Love is Blind
by secretsongwriter
Summary: Mikan didn't know what it was, but he sent a chill down her spine. Maybe it was the smile that oozed venom, or maybe it was the way that his eyes seemed cold and unfeeling and she didn't even need to see to know this; she didn't care what it was, but she didn't like him. Sequel to Lean on Me, feel free to read that one first.
1. Chapter 1

**It's good to see you all again! Sorry to all of the people that wanted little baby Natsume and Mikans! I wanted them too, but then I wouldn't be able to really make a plot XD And typically readers want a plot. I think. WHAT DO I KNOW? Anyway, this is the first chapter of the sequel so many of you guys (surprisingly) requested and wanted!**

"Your room is all set up," Kaoru covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes shined with tears. "I can't believe you're in college."

"You didn't cry when I was going into college," Tsubasa glared at his mother who was too busy gushing over her "daughter" to acknowledge that it was true. Misaki snickered and admired Mikan's half of the room. Her bed was covered in a light pink and fluffy comforter with strawberries dotting it. The desk next to it had a special and complex computer that only Mikan was able to use; partly because the keys were Braille, and partly because she was the only one who really needed to give up the large amount of time it took to figure out the miniature Transformer.

"Where's Natsume anyway?" Kaoru glared at the spot where her sun should be. "He should be here to celebrate you coming here too."

Mikan laughed lightly and carefully sat down on her bed. She had spent the last hour memorizing where everything was in the room so that she wouldn't trip and hurt herself. Mikan's roommate wasn't here at the moment, but it didn't really matter considering it was just Hotaru. The school decided that since the two already knew each other and since Hotaru was such a tidy person, the amount of injuries would be minimum and that it would be the ideal pairing. "Auntie, you seem to have forgotten that Natsume had to move his stuff into his dorm too, his only help being _Narumi._" Mikan emphasized the name, knowing that her aunt would realize how poor of help Narumi would provide.

Kaoru gave a grudging nod and continued to straighten every little detail of the room. Mikan rolled her sightless blue eyes and stood up. She took small steps – she had to be a lot more careful when she wasn't using her cane – and approached Kaoru and enveloped her in a hug. Kaoru relaxed slightly and gave her a big squeeze in return. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'm going to be fine, Auntie," she reassured her anxious Aunt. She then gave a playfully light push towards the door. "Now get out of here. I'm sure if I let you guys stay, Tsubasa would break out the alcohol, sneak some into my drink, and then I'd miss my first class tomorrow."

"She's already wise beyond her years," Tsubasa shook his head mockingly. He moved forward and gave her a big bear hug. "We'll see you on Thanksgiving. Don't forget to call, okay?"

"Nah," she pushed him off jokingly. "I hate you all. I think I'm just going to be reclusive like your anti-social son and not contact you at all."

"Alright, smart ass," Misaki swatted her on the head. "You're getting too much like that cocky boyfriend of yours. I'll miss you little sis."

"Now get out all of you," Hotaru stated in the doorway. "You're polluting the room with your stupidity and childishness."

Kaoru, Misaki, and Tsubasa all shared a look that said, 'we should probably leave before we get our pictures taken by the devil' and scurried out of the room. Mikan grinned and pin pointed her friend's location by the sound of her footsteps. Her hearing was much more acute and she used it to her advantage all the time. She jumped on her friend squealing, "Hotaru!"

Well, she attempted to do this action. Hotaru, ruthless as ever, calmly brought out her baka gun and shot her roommate back on to her bed. Mikan rubbed her head and Hotaru swiped her hair short inky bangs out of her eyes. Mikan just looked unsurprised, though she was rubbing her head where the shot hit her. "It's no wonder you're going into the robotics program."

"Well, I'm a genius," she stated plainly as she started tinkering with some pieces of metal and wires she had left on her desk. "Unlike you, who is going into teaching."

"Mou, Hotaru," Mikan pouted. "Teaching is a very respectable profession."

"Tell that to their salary," she pushed two pieces together and smiled, satisfied, and then turned to look at Mikan. "There's a reason I went into such a profitable profession."

"You're so greedy," Mikan shook her head as she grabbed her cane. "I'm going to go see Natsume and Ruka, do you want to come?"

"No."

"Are you definitely postively absolutely for sure for sure?" she begged her friend.

"No."

Mikan figured there was no reasoning with her and walked into the dorms. A few of the girls had introduced themselves to Mikan and helped her get out of the dorm. She was pretty sure their names were Anna and Nonoko; they were very sweet. She strolled in the direction they had told her was Natsume's dorm.

She wasn't exactly sure what the campus looked at, but with the help of Hotaru, Natsume, and Kaoru, she had a good idea. The area she was walking in now was most likely the quad, where the grass was always crisply cut and a gorgeous green that the summer sun only seemed to replenish every time its rays peeked through the trees placed in the area. She figured it was the quad anyway, because Kaoru had told her that it was the only area where students were allowed to bring pets outside of the dorm, and she could hear the panting of a dog a little bit behind her.

She finally figured she made it across the quad because it was supposed to be 100x50 ft, and she had counted 92 of her own steps. Suddenly, her cane ran into something very soft, but also hard. Meaning that was probably a human foot.

"I'm so sorry!" she bowed quickly and apologized to whoever she had just hit with her wooden cane. She could only assume how much it hurt.

"Careless as ever, Polka," a rich deep amused voice teased.

She shot up and quickly zipped forward into the man's already open arms. She smiled happily in the warmth of his embrace before he pulled back and planted a kiss on her waiting lips. Mikan grinned at the smirking Natsume. "So how was moving in with Narumi?"

Natsume's face turned stormy. Mikan brushed her fingers across his face to figure out his expression and giggled at what she felt. "Not well, huh?"

"He put two of his dresses into my closet," Natsume hissed darkly. "So I burned them in front of him with the lighter I brought."

"That's too mean!" she scolded him as she smacked him on the head.

"Don't hit me, idiot," he grabbed her hand and dragged it downwards, twisting his fingers with hers. "If you hurt my beautiful face the world itself will surely implode."

She scoffed. "Yeah right. More like you'll finally learn that your face isn't nearly as attractive as you originally thought."

Natsume raised his eyebrow and leaned in closer to her, so that she could feel his hot breath on her cheek. "I'm not attractive?"

Mikan's face turned bright red and she gave him a hard push and he stumbled backwards. "NO!"

Suddenly, from behind Natsume, their high school friend Koko popped out, grinning manically. "Natsume wants you to coddle him since you pushed him to the ground."

"And Mikan wants a kiss from us," his partner Kitsuneme added, also grinning like a crazy person.

"Stop being so annoying!" this girl Mikan had met recently named Sumire growled. "You two should just go hop of a building or get kicked in the throat."

"P-Please calm down everyone," a timid boy Mikan met earlier named Yuu tried to settle the riled up group down.

"What's going on?" Ruka asked, confused as he came upon the scene, his blond hair swept to the side from the light breeze that was drifting through the area.

"Perfect," Hotaru muttered as she snapped a few photos of the oblivious boy.

"I think college is going to be fun Natsume," Mikan told him happily, her shiny brown hair flowing in the wind.

"I think we're going to end up killing each other," Natsume muttered.

**And this was the first chapter of the sequel so many of you have been asking me for! I hope it was to your satisfaction and I hope to see you when I finish the second one! Give me reviews! Tell me what you think! Do you want anything specific to happen? Other than something bad to Luna. Guys I get it. I made her a bitch, she needs to get cancer or something XD. I'll make sure it happens. Think of something else.**


	2. Chapter 2: Teacher?

**And we're back again for another chapter! Now I realized, that in the previous story, I said Mikan was going into music, but in this story I said she was going into teaching. SO. She's going to be a music teacher :D**

"Oi, baka!" Hotaru barked at her sleeping roommate. Mikan just gave a big smile in her sleep and continued her date with the sandman (**for those of you who don't know, the sandman is a person that puts sand on your face and then puts you to sleep)**

"Hotaru… ten more minutes," she snuggled deeper into her pillow and then yawned. "Maybe another hour…"

"I'll tell Natsume that you still wear polka dotted underwear." Hotaru threatened as she combed her hair. She was determined to look professional and put together. Her silky black hair was straight and she had threatened every single one of her hair follicles to stay in place, and even they didn't dare contradict her. She was wearing a white button down with a dress jacket over top that was crisp because of the power of her scary ironer that she had made years ago. It was huge and ironed the entire outfit within twenty seconds. Even her small black heals were shining from their recent furious washing. Basically she was the epitome of perfection.

"I don't care…" she mumbled covering her ears. "He teases me about it anyway…"

Hotaru pinched the bridge of her nose. "You leave me no choice you stubborn baka."

Mikan was absolutely not prepared for what Hotaru had in store for her. She was ready for the baka gun, a punch to the head, maybe even water all over her bed, but instead, she decided to rip off her blankets and then tear off all of her clothes except for her polka dotted underwear.

Mikan immediately flushed furiously and attempted to cover up her exposed flesh. Hotaru smirked at her. "If you don't want to continue to be in this uncomfortable situation, I suggest you get up and put some clothes on."

Mikan stared in horror. This was a new level of evil her roommate had just achieved. She stumbled to her dresser and quickly put on a bra and then pulled on a light pink lacy sleeveless dress that matched the color of her comforter almost exactly. She sighed in relief when she was covered up by the comfort of clothes once again. Hotaru nodded approvingly. "Now do something about your rat's nest hair."

Mikan rolled her eyes and yanked a brush through her hair. Soon enough, her hair went from something that looked like a nuclear explosion had happened, to a sleek waterfall of shiny hazel hair.

"Grab your cane, we have to get to class," Hotaru snapped at her. Mikan was being so rushed this morning that she felt like crying. All she wanted was another ten minutes to sleep, but her evil best friend just had to be the devil's spawn.

She approached the door and felt around for something familiar. She finally groped Hotaru's shoulder and felt a little more at ease. Hotaru didn't say anything, but she also didn't remove her hand. She was aware that her friend needed this much, at least. "Come on, baka. We have to go to the quad to get to our psychology class."

Though they weren't majoring in the same area, they were both receiving their minors in psychology, because it seemed to be an extremely worthwhile class. Mikan was dragged through the hallway and then down to the quad. She heard an extremely familiar voice shout, "Imai! Sakura! Over here!"

Mikan felt the direction of her dragging being switched. She listened a little harder and was able to separate three different voices. It seemed like Hotaru took her to where… Sumire, Koko, and Ruka were. She smiled and waved energetically to everybody. "Good morning!"

"Now Permy," Koko frowned disapprovingly at the fuming green haired girl, "why can't you be this chipper in the morning?"

"BECAUSE I HAVE TO DEAL WITH IDIOTS LIKE YOU!" she exploded chasing him around to try and strangle him.

"PERMY IS A VIRGIN!" Koko sang as he was hounded by a furious Sumire. Her eyes burned with anger at that statement.

"I WILL RIP OUT YOUR INTENSTINES AND FEED THEM TO RUKA'S RABBIT!" she screeched as she finally got a hold of him.

"W-What?!" Ruka exclaimed, squeezing the snow white rabbit in his arms a little bit tighter. Hotaru's eyes gleamed and she took a quick picture of the nervous boy. It was the perfect picture. The morning sun hit just perfectly on him, his khaki shorts just showing his muscular legs and his white shirt emphasizing his innocent blue eyes. Everybody was too busy watching Sumire and Koko to notice the tiny blush that spread across Hotaru's cheeks.

"Somebody help me! Medusa has a hold on me!" Koko cackled. Ruka and Mikan just shook their heads. Koko was being an idiot for provoking somebody like Sumire. They had only known her for a day and they already knew how terrifying she could be.

Two hands covered Mikan's eyes. "Guess who?" a voice asked huskily.

Mikan harrumphed and turned towards the offender. "Natsume. I. can't. see. It will not matter if you cover my eyes. If anything, it just gives me a clue as to who you are because your hands are so familiar to me."

Natsume raised an eyebrow. "Somebody woke up the wrong side of the bed."

"Something like that," she grumbled.

The air seemed to chill all of a sudden. Mikan looked at Natsume, confused. Natsume wasn't sure what had caused the icy change in atmosphere, so he just snaked his arm around Mikan's waist and drew her closer to him. His eyes narrowed at the intruder on the scene. Sumire even stopped strangling the helpless Koko.

A man of about 30 walked in the area, his hands folded together behind his back, smiling at the children. He had unkempt black hair and malicious dark brown eyes Mikan didn't know what it was, but he sent a chill down her spine. Maybe it was the smile that oozed venom, or maybe it was the way that his eyes seemed cold and unfeeling and she didn't even need to see to know this; she didn't care what it was, but she didn't like him.

"Hello children," he drawled out the words. "How are we today?"

"W-We're fine," Ruka finally answered anxiously. "But we really must be going. We have a class to get to."

"Oh," the man's grinned widened so slightly that it was barely noticeable to the eye. "What class?"

"Psychology, with Mr. Serio Rei." Hotaru answered, bored with this conversation already.

"Well then let's go together, shall we?" his smile now seemed more like a sneer to Natsume, but he didn't say anything. "Because it just so happens, I have to teach that class today."

None of the students objected; how could they disobey their teacher? They obediently but silently followed him to the class. Even Sumire knew to hold back in this intimidating new presence. When they arrived in the lecture hall, Natsume quietly whispered to Mikan its features. He described the smooth mahogany floors, the luxurious seats to take notes, and the high ceiling that arched over their heads in a dome.

"Alright, class." The kids in there who were chatting excitedly stopped their conversations abruptly at the arrival of the new teacher. The group settled down in their seats and listened intently to their teacher's words. "My name is Serio Rei, but I would prefer if you all called me Personna." Everybody exchanged confused glances, but said nothing. "Now this is obviously the class of Psychology. We will discuss a variety of topics in here," he made a lazy hand gesture. "Such as, dreams, fears, mental illness, sadism and many other areas. Any questions?"

"Yes," Koko raised his hand with a very straight face. "Can we start the sadism today?"

** Oh Koko. You like Permy, so is it a surprise that you're probably a masochist? That's the chapter for today! I am SO excited. I finally did a little chapter chart on what I want every chapter to look like, so I actually kind of know where I'm going with this one. Proud of me? ;) And HEY~! If you haven't read the first story, you should definitely go read that. Or you could read my other story Mikan's Mailbox, while waiting for the next chapter! Or you could cook a kitten into a pie! Your choice! Peace out girl scouts!**


	3. Chapter 3: A haunted night

**I am listening to the fabulous musical of Godspell and Next to Normal while writing this. Check them out. Broadway rules. NOW BACK TO THE CHAPTER. WHAT WILL HAPPEN? OH MY GOSH. I'm getting so excited for this story :DD**

"… And that's it." Personna closed his book with a loud slam. "Class dismissed."

All of the children got out of there as fast possible. When they finally escaped, they entire class heaved a unanimous sigh of relief at being out of there. Mikan shivered and wrapped sweater a little tighter around herself. "He's too creepy."

"Agreed," everyone except Natsume and Hotaru said simultaneously.

"I think I'm going to skip class tomorrow," Natsume muttered to himself, but unfortunately his girlfriend with a very strong sense of the rules heard.

"Absolutely not!" she shouted at him. She thought in her head for some threats. "I-If you skip class… I won't kiss you for a week!"

Suddenly he was right in front of her face and he gentle blew his warm breath over her. She shivered and he whispered right next to her lips, "I think you would miss my kisses too much."

"I would say get a room," Koko grinned at the exchange between the two. "But it seems like you're already having verbal sex right here."

"I will end you, you stupid blonde," Natsume growled at him, his teeth gritted.

He immediately hid behind Sumire. "You can't do that! Permy is taking me on a date today!"

She turned around, her nails out and ready to scratch as her eyes burned. "_I'm _taking _you_ on a date?!"

"I mean I'll be going now!" and he ran out of there with Sumire hot on his trail.

Mikan thought about it wistfully. Natsume had taken her on dates before, but not since they'd arrived at college. She just felt like it would feel more official. Like their relationship was solid, and not just some childish feelings; even though she herself knew they weren't. She turned around to Natsume with a hopeful look on her face and bounced towards him, her pig tail braids bouncing. Natsume felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to face his adorable girlfriend, her sightless eyes bright with anticipation and excitement. "What do you want Polka?"

Mikan forgot what she was going to ask for because she thought of something she was sure was a good comeback. "You can't call me that anymore Natsume! I'm not wearing Polka dotted underwear today!"

"Tch." He said in mock defeat. He was about to look under her skirt, when he realized she was wearing skinny jeans. Mikan didn't even need to see him to know what his facial expression must have looked like at the moment. Natsume was only mildly annoyed by her triumphant grin though. He couldn't exactly get mad at her for wearing long pants. Could he?

Mikan then remembered what she was going to ask Natsume. She approached him and clung to his arm, her cane bouncing against Natsume. "Mou, Natsume…"

"She wants you to ask her out on a date!" Koko shouted as he passed them and Sumire pursued him, vindication still lacing her aura.

Natsume raised his eyebrows at his slightly flushing girlfriend who was muttering, "Stupid mind reader…"

"Alright." He shrugged. He didn't really care, and plus, he would be able to finally be alone with his Polka dotted idiot.

"Really?" she squeaked

"Really."

"Really really?" she squealed.

"Instead of a date, how about I take you to the doctor's and have him remove your vocal cords?"

There was a moment of silence before Mikan's meek voice broke it. "How about a trip to somewhere I won't get bodily harm instead?"

"Sounds good."

"I said a place where I wouldn't get hurt!" Mikan yelled at Natsume, smacking her fists against his back after he told he took her to a haunted house. "This is a horrible choice for a date!"

"You won't get hurt, stupid." He blocked her delicate punches with his hand. "You won't even be able to see the scary parts."

"But the noises, jerk," she shuddered and turned her back towards the haunted house. "They're so loud, and they're everywhere."

"I'll be right there the whole time, scaredy Polka." He grabbed her hand just to reaffirm her of his presence. She looked at him wide but blank blue eyes.

"Promise?" she asked, holding up a pinkie.

"Promise," he swore, linking it with his pointer finger, so he wouldn't have to stay true to it. He wanted to scare his anxious girlfriend a little more than what this haunted house would.

He was lucky she couldn't see just how big and terrifying the place actually looked, or else she would have made them turn around a long time ago. It was a towering three stories, thorn bushes caressing its base. As if someone had screamed too loud, almost all of the windows were cracked and seemed to seep scary.

Natsume held her hand tightly as they walked through the creaking grand doors, and they delved into darkness. An ancient sounding record turned on and started playing old time jazz. Mikan held in her squeak of fright and just squeezed Natsume's hand more tightly. Then, a prehistoric voice croaked through the room, "_Many years ago… a happy woman lived with her young son in a large house. Her husband had departed her many years earlier, but she was not bitter. She had her son. One day, she permitted her son to go on a carriage ride with his aunt. The carriage fell into the marsh, and while her sister made it out alive, her son perished in its murky waters. To this day, her tortured soul haunts this house, in search of the son she lost so many years ago."_

"Natsume!" Mikan begged, tugging on the short sleeve of his black shirt. "Can we please go?"

"Absolutely not." He was grinning in the darkness; this was one of the best dates they've had in a while. He tugged her arm. "Come on, let's see what happens next."

The rest of the house wasn't any better. With every screech of agony, or every mysterious slam of a door, or every groan of an empty rocking chair, Mikan became more on edge, the hair on the back of her neck standing straight up. They must have been nearing the end, Mikan guessed, because the screams were becoming more distant so they would shock you more.

A screech echoed through the room and Mikan ripped her hand from Natsume's and covered her ears. It was the not knowing. It was the fact that Mikan didn't know what was going. It could actually be not scary at all; that's what you'd figure from the way Natsume snickered every once in a while. But she didn't know that. For the first time, she felt bitter towards Luna. She felt acid rush through her veins, wishing that something bad would happen to her. It just wasn't fair. Mikan just shook her head and calmed down. It wouldn't be kind to wish that upon somebody, everybody deserved an extra chance anyway. Now that she was feeling a tad bit more level headed, she swiped her hand through the air, searching for Natsume's, but felt nothing.

"Natsume?" she called, slightly panicked. "Natsume, where did you go?"

She felt a breath of cold air on the back of her neck and then a silky, "Boo." She jumped three feet into the air and shrieked at the top of her voice. She instantly dropped to the floor, knowing that she wouldn't be able to accomplish anything while standing up. She felt fingers wrap around her wrist and pull her into a pair of strong warm arms. "Scared you," Natsume whispered in the dark, amused.

"Natsume." She looked at him and he could barely see the tears glistening at the edge of her eyes, but when he did, guilt doused his body. "Why?"

"S-sorry." He didn't do apologies very well. "I just wanted to tease you a little."

"Natsume," Mikan closed her eyes and put her hand on her temple, "I can't believe you would do something so childish and horrible. I think we should break up."

"What?!" he exclaimed, alarmed. "What are you talking about?"

Mikan slid an eye open and smirked at him. "Got you."

His jaw almost dropped open. He reined in his surprise though and squeezed her cheeks, hard. "You little polka dotted brat."

"You deserved it." She retorted and removed his hands from her face. "Now take me out. I'm done here."

"Yes, mistress," he bowed mockingly to her. Mikan's eyebrow twitched, knowing he was making fun of her in some way, so she gave him a solid slap to his head. She was satisfied by the thunk and couldn't help but snidely add, "Natsume, is there anything even in there? It sounded hollow."

"Do you want me to take you out or not?" he rubbed the back of his head and laced their fingers together.

When they were finally back outside of the haunted house, the cool air of night felt perfect on Mikan's skin that was heated from the adrenaline that had been pumping through her. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket, and she flipped it open. She brushed her finger across the keyboard, feeling around for the answer call button. She found it and pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Mikan," Mikan recognized Hotaru's voice. She was very shocked though that Hotaru didn't use idiot, or stupid though to get her attention. "Listen to me. We just saw on the news that Koizumi Luna was just killed."

**O . O WHOA! And so the plot begins! I hope you are all satisfied with the comeuppance of Luna, if you're not, go to Lowes, build a bridge, and get over it :D**

** Now to everyone reading this sequel that I am getting so excited for, I am leaving for vacation tomorrow! I will be gone for a week with cousins I haven't seen in years (meaning I'll be spending a lot of time with them). I WILL try to get in a chapter or two, as well as a chapter or two of Mikan's Mailbox, but I can't promise you lovely people anything. Thank you so much for being so understanding, and I hope to see your (hopefully XD) nice reviews when I come back! (or check on vacation ;) )**


	4. Chapter 4: Post murder sleepover

**I'm watching say yes to the dress, bridesmaid edition, and guys, it's crazy. But I love it. I'm a sick, sick, person. :D Here's the chapter for you! And we're not going TOO deep into Luna's murder yet. That's for later ;) ENJOY.**

Mikan was still in shock. She was taking comfort underneath a sakura tree she and Natsume had discovered a week or two before. Even though Luna was a bad person, she didn't deserve to die. And then Mikan had to wonder, was it her fault? In the haunted house, she had wished for something bad to happen to her. What are the odds that just minutes later, she would find out that Luna had been killed? She buried her head miserably into the comforting soundless protection of her arms. It _was _her fault. How would she be able to face anybody? She might as well just kill herself—

"Polka," she hadn't heard Natsume approaching her, and to say the least, was shocked when he placed his hand on the top of her head. "Koko decided to rally the troops in light of the recent… deceased, and wants all in his dorm so that we can have a, and I quote, 'slumber party! We'll knock the depression out of these people, either with our jokes, or with the baseball bat in my closet!'" Natsume finished dryly.

Mikan didn't respond. Natsume frowned at this. She was so excitable. By this time, the idiot would usually be hopping around and squealing about how much fun they were going to have, or how they should play a prank on somebody, or how when they play truth or dare, she's going to dare Hotaru and Ruka to sleep in the same sleeping bag. He crouched down next to her and hooked a finger under her chin, forcing her to reluctantly face him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she lied, poorly. She faked a smile, not a good one, and said, "What would be wrong with me?"

Natsume narrowed his eyes. He didn't like it when people lied to him. Especially when it was a person who was supposed to be honest with him. He wrapped his arms around a slightly surprised Mikan and dragged her towards him, tucking her head underneath his chin. "Don't lie to me. We've been best friends since we were seven. You can't fool me, idiot. Now tell me what's wrong."

Mikan's eyes filled with tears and told Natsume in a thick voice laced with guilt, "It's all my fault."

Natsume brushed away the tears and held her face; she could feel his probing scarlet eyes staring at her. "What's your fault?"

"L-Luna's death." She sobbed, burying her face into Natsume's chest. He patted her head, just like he did when they were little. She took a shaky breath and continued, "While we were in the haunted house, I had wished – only for a second! – That something bad would happen to her, because of what she did to my eyes, and then she died! It's my entire fault!"

"Mikan." Mikan's watery blind eyes looked at Natsume. "That's bullshit."

"W-What?"

"That's bullshit. It wasn't your fault she died. Somebody _killed_ her. That means that some psycho took her life, because he is fucked up. You had nothing to do with that. It's not your fault, do you understand?" he stared intensely, and even though he knew she couldn't see the way he was looking at her, he hoped that his voice gave her the general idea.

"R-Really?"

"Really, you idiot," he rolled his eyes and pressed his lips to the side of her temple. "Now do you want to go to the stupid sleepover, or are we going to have our own sleepover in my dorm room?" he grinned deviously.

Mikan stood up abruptly. "To Koko's sleepover we go!"

* * *

"And that's why there are nude beaches in Europe." Kitsuneme finished, with Koko nodding, completely convinced, at his side.

Ruka and Mikan were both a light red. Sumire rolled her eyes at the two and gave them a good solid swat to the head. Hotaru and Natsume honestly did not care. Hotaru was too preoccupied with her camera and Ruka's blush, and Natsume was too preoccupied not caring. The only people missing in the get together were Anna, Nonoko, and Yuu. Anna and Nonoko had decided that they were going to try to create their own recipe that night and Yuu was terrified of what the combination of people that were going would do. With good reason.

"C-Can we talk about something else?" Ruka coughed into his hand, his azure eyes swimming with embarrassment. It didn't help that he didn't have his bunny to cover his flush. He had decided that if he did bring his bunny, Koko or KItsuneme would try eating it at one point in the night. It had happened before. That's why he had to get a new one.

"Sure bunny boy." Hotaru put away her camera for a moment, ready to bring up the topic that was still in the back of Mikan's mind. "What do you all think of the death of Koizumi?"

"I say good riddance," Sumire scoffed, settling down on the floor, on top of the layers of blankets Koko had put their prior to everyone's arrival. "She was a bitch to everybody she met, didn't matter who you were."

Koko grinned excitedly. "She was murdered about five miles from here. That means the killer could still be here! Oh my god, what if he decides to join the party? Do you think he would willingly get his nails painted? I feel like killers have a good sense of style, so probably."

Everybody stared at him. He laughed good naturedly. "What?"

"It is a miracle people like you don't die out because of natural selection." Natsume muttered to himself, glancing briefly at Mikan to gauge her reaction to the whole conversation, and reassured when he saw her brilliant smile.

"Guys," Kitsuneme said dramatically jumping on top of the bed. "I am officially king of this bed, and king of this room. Bow down to me as I command you all to start a game of truth or dare."

Now if this was anybody's room besides Kitsuneme's and Koko's, he would've been put to death by the firing squad. But it was their room, so nobody said anything. While Kitsuneme was on top of his bed, everybody else was scattered around on the floor of the room, where cushions and sleeping bags and blankets where spread out.

Mikan and Koko – yes Koko did this laugh as well - giggled and bowed but everybody else stared skeptically at him, not willing in the least to bow down to such an idiot.

"Aren't we a little bit old to be playing truth or dare?" Ruka raised a blonde eyebrow.

"Oh ye of little faith!" Kitsuneme cried jumping down, making Ruka flinch. "You are never too old to play the ancient, but traditional, game of truth or dare!"

"I'll play." Hotaru said calmly, the gears of her head whirring. If she were to catch some of these people doing certain dares on camera, she could possibly profit from this stupid sleepover.

"Well, if Hotaru is…"

"I guess if Imai thinks it's okay…"

"It's stupid either way." Natsume said flatly, but he knew he would be playing, just to make sure one of the idiots didn't dare something his idiot to do something bad.

"W-Why does everybody listen to Imai?" Kitsuneme sulked in the corner of the bed.

"Because she has more common sense and general intelligence in her pinky finger than you two do combined." Sumire stated blatantly. "Now, let us start… Natsume." Natsume fought the urge to groan. "Truth or dare?"

Natsume didn't want to a dare, but he knew he would never hear the end of it from the idiots if he chose truth. "Dare."

"I dare you," she tapped her chin, "to give Koko a kiss on the cheek."

Natsume's eyes flared with murderous intent as he glared at Sumire. "No."

"It's a dare," she sang smugly. "You have to do it. You're lucky I didn't make you kiss him on the mouth."

Koko blinked innocently. "I-It's alright, Natsume-_kun_, I won't mind. I mean, it's not the only place you've kissed on my body."

Natsume's expression was deadly, even as he leaned in and pressed his lips to Koko's cheek. Hotaru snapped pictures with her small camera. When he pulled back, Koko fanned himself. "My, Natsume-kun. Your lips are as soft as ever. Thank you for doing Permy's dare."

"I will kill your goldfish," Natsume hissed, jabbing his finger towards the oblivious yellow fish, floating about in the fish bowl

"Not Jin-Jin!" Koko exclaimed in horror. He covered his eyes with his arm. "I see. Your feelings for me are gone, we will never sleep in the same bed ag—"

"It's Hyuuga's turn." Hotaru stopped Koko's dramatic monologue and pointed towards Natsume.

"Do you want my turn?" Natsume offered Mikan, most definitely out of the kindness of his heart and not because he thought the whole thing was stupid.

"Sure!" she agreed cheerfully. She thought about who was in the room. An idea struck her mind, because of what Natsume had told her earlier. "Hotaru~! Truth or dare!" Mikan didn't let on what she was plotting, but she was banking on Hotaru picking dare.

"Dare."

Mikan internally squealed as she grinned at her best friend. "I dare you and Ruka to sleep in the same bed tonight."

Hotaru's jaw dropped. She was completely infuriated with her friend. Her dare was ridiculous. It was stupid. She could be saying no right now. Why wasn't she? As if her brain was on auto pilot, she sighed. "Really?"

"Yes." Mikan nodded her head quickly, before leaning it on Natsume's shoulder. He intertwined their fingers as Hotaru rolled her eyes and stood up. She sat in the bed, cross-legged, and stared at Ruka.

"W-What?" he scooted backwards from her, wary.

"You're sleeping with me. Get on the bed." Hotaru said, bored. But in actuality, her pulse was racing. She wasn't sure why, but her mind was reeling and she her body was tingling with… excitement? Ruka decided that there was no reason to argue with the blackmail queen and just climbed on to the bed. They were a foot away from each other, but the tension was almost tangible from anywhere in the room.

"My turn." Everyone in the room suddenly turned cautious. Whoever she chose, would have to choose truth, for if they chose dare, who knows how many souls would be lost to her evil tricks. "Permy."

Sumire's face was drained of all color, which actually accentuated her dark green dyed hair quite well. "Y-Yeah. Truth."

"What's the furthest you and Koko have gone?" Sumire's eyes grew as big as saucers and despite the amused stare she received from Koko, she wasn't very willing to spill.

"A-Are you sure that's the question you want to ask?" Sumire asked, her eyes pleading for Hotaru to say no.

"No, that's the question I want."

Sumire opened her mouth and just as she was about to answer, Koko started singing in a very loud voice, "S, S, S, S, M, M, M. CAUSE I MAY BE BAD, BUT I'M PERFECTLY GOOD AT IT! SEX IN THE AIR YOU KNOW I LOVE THE SMELL OF IT!"

Everybody stared at him, for the second time that night, except Sumire's was one of gratefulness. "Why did you sing that song?" Kitsuneme asked. The fact that even he was at a loss for his friend proved something.

Koko grinned at everyone. "I guess Personna's lesson about sadism stuck with me. I just got so excited for when we got to masochism, I burst into song. Now since Sumire answered, and I'm bored of this game, how about we go to bed?"

It was at that moment that everyone realized that Koko was just trying to save his girlfriend. They backed off, but Hotaru was very disappointed that she didn't get a video of Sumire admitting such interesting information. Mikan yawned and blinked blearily. "I'm tired. I can go to bed."

"I'm sleeping on Koko's bed." Sumire announced. This started a very big war of who would sleep where in the room. Hotaru and Ruka had already secured their spot on Kitsuneme's bed, so he was left to complain about why he wasn't on Koko's bed. Koko and Sumire claimed that Kitsuneme's bed was theirs for the night, and Natsume and Mikan took the big sleeping bag in between the two beds without a fight. Kitsuneme was left to sulk, and sleep on top of the blankets in front of the door.

Hotaru glanced around the room. Around an hour ago everyone had fallen asleep. She was still awake, but she didn't feel like taking pictures for once. She didn't bring out her camera to photograph Natsume's arms wrapped protectively around Mikan. She didn't snap a shot of Koko spooning Sumire, his arm draped over her waist. She gave a mental sigh, which was cut short when Ruka turned around in his sleep and his hand ended right on top of hers. Her eyes widened, but she didn't move her hand. She convinced herself that it was because she just didn't want to wake him up. But as she fell asleep, she couldn't explain the reason why she weaved her fingers between his.

**:3 Did you guys like the little Ruka x Hotaru? I wrote this while on the road today, and also in my hotel room, so I hope you guys don't hate it like the state of New Jersey hates me, after I burned down the hospital I was born in O . o What?**

**Anyway. Thanks for sticking with another chapter. And hey! If you're bored waiting for the next chapter, you can read my other story, Mikan's Mailbox! I'm working on that story too—**

**You guys don't care. :D Well, hugs and butterfly kisses, and love you all~!**


	5. Chapter 5: Sociopaths

** HELLO EVERYONE! I'm listening to greenday while writing this, so I'm super duper pumped. Duper. Prepare yourselves.**

"Mikan. Get. Up!" Hotaru seethed, raising a giant block of wood, preparing to smash it over her sleepy best friend's head.

As if sensing the oncoming pain, Mikan shot up and rolled to the side, just barely evading the piece of wood. Mikan glared at Hotaru. "WHY?!"

"Because you can't ever seem to move that lethargic body of yours whenever it damn needs to move!" Hotaru growled. The sleepover had just been last night, and Mikan was still feeling the after effects of it. After she had woken up in the morning in Koko's room, she had been sleepily dragged back to her room by Hotaru, where she took a nap before their psychology lesson. She didn't regret going for one moment though. It was absolutely fantastic to wake up, snuggled in Natsume's arms, and then to see Hotaru's murderous expression at seeing her and Ruka's connected hands.

"Mou, I'm sorry Hotaru," Mikan pouted. She stretched and carefully climbed out of the bed. Her hand fluttered around the bedside table until she found her hair brush. She ran it through her hair until she was sure it was free from tangles.

"Turn around, baka. I need to make sure that you look presentable enough." Hotaru commanded, spinning her friend.

Mikan smiled softly. Since she couldn't exactly look in the mirror to see if she looked okay, Hotaru had taken over the duty of mothering her in this way. Hotaru nodded approvingly at Mikan's shiny hazel hair. She frowned though at Mikan's blood red strapless that had ridden up while she was asleep. Mikan's hand flitted over Hotaru's mouth, "Why are you frowning?"

"Your dress is too high." Hotaru yanked it down and suddenly the top half of Mikan's cleavage was showing. Hotaru smirked. "Better. And Hyuuga will like it more too."

Mikan reached down to pull it up, but Hotaru's hand stopped her. "No. If you do that, I won't check your outfit tomorrow."

Mikan's face shown with horror and her head drooped. "Fine."

"Now come on. If we're late, Personna will sacrifice a unicorn or something."

Natsume leaned against a column on the outside of the psychology building, only slightly listening to the conversation going on between Ruka and Koko.

Personna stopped in front of them while walking to the classroom, and gave them a tight lipped smile. "Class starts in ten minutes. Don't be late."

Once he was in the classroom, Koko shuddered. "Every time Personna smiles, a puppy dies."

Natsume finally realized that they had stopped talking, and Koko was approaching him with a wide grin. Koko draped himself across Natsume and slowly slipped his hand underneath Natsume's light cotton black shirt and started feeling his abs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Natsume hissed out through clenched teeth. Koko nodded approvingly.

"I was just saying how Ruka had pretty good abs, but he said that you had better," Koko's hand was still inside of Natsume's shirt. "And I agree. Hey! Mikan! Come feel your boyfriend's abs!"

"W-what?"

Hotaru pushed the stunned girl forward and Koko grabbed her hand, and forced it on Natsume's abs. He ran her hand up and down as her face got redder by the second, though she couldn't deny the firmness of his muscles. "What are you _doing_?"

"Koko. Jin-Jin was taken out of his water bowl and put into your sock drawer last night. You'll find his dead body when you open it." Natsume growled to get the nuisance out of the area.

"YOU DEMON!" he shrieked before running to go see if it was true.

"Come on, Nogi," Hotaru crooked her finger in a gesture for Ruka to follow her. "We need to leave these lovers to themselves."

After everyone was gone, Natsume raised an eyebrow at the very lost Mikan. "Are you going to stop molesting me?"

Mikan snatched her hand away and Natsume snickered. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. He bent down to nuzzle her cheek. "You know, I think we should have our own sleepover tonight." He appraised her dress. "In that dress."

"I-I think that's a very—"

"Interesting idea," Personna said dryly, "But I think before you two can plan your surely romantic sleepover, it would be a wiser idea to attend psychology."

Natsume's eyes widened slightly and Mikan's face was drained of all color at her teacher seeing her in such an intimate embrace. Mikan ripped herself from Natsume's arms and bowed down. "I'm so sorry!"

"Class starts in a minute. Share one last passionate kiss and then feel free to join us." Personna raised his eyebrows and then walked back in the class.

Mikan was about to quickly follow after him, but Mikan's wrist was grabbed by Natsume and she was twirled around so that his lips met hers in a deep kiss. She pulled away, kind of breathless and _very_ embarrassed. "What was that for?"

"He said we had one last kiss." He smirked and then strolled back into the classroom, bringing Mikan with him by hooking their fingers together. Mikan, now feeling very exasperated, followed reluctantly. She could hear the snickers coming from their friends as they sat in their seats, but she also heard it all cut off, and she could only assume it was because of Natsume's sharp glare.

"Alright, class." Personna quieted everyone down. "In light of the recent murder in the area, I thought it appropriate that we go on to the subject of sociopaths. Now who can tell me what a sociopath is?"

Hotaru calmly raised her hand. Personna nodded at her and she lowered it. "A sociopath is a person who doesn't feel emotion."

"Hotaru, don't talk about yourself," Kitsuneme joked, thinking that he was the funniest thing to ever walk the planet.

"You're lucky that we're not on the unit of sex and talking about the right hand." Kitsuneme got silent very quickly.

"Correct, Imai. More often than not, Sociopaths end up being killers." Personna paced back and forth across the room. "They kill, because it gives them the closest thing they will ever have to a complete emotion; excitement. The majority of serial killers can get a thrill out of seeing their victims feel the most potent feeling there is; fear. We can only assume our killer of Koizumi Luna, had a thrilling experience in killing her." Personna pressed a button on his computer, and an image of Luna's dead body was projected on to the white board. Almost as if a habit he developed while growing up shielding the innocent girl beside him, Natsume covered Mikan's eyes with the hand that was curled around her shoulders.

"What is he showing us?" she whispered, gentle removing his hand.

Natsume knew he could lie, but he figured it was best to tell the truth. "Luna's body," he muttered.

Mikan's expression didn't change but she did say through almost unmoving lips, "What does it look like?"

But Natsume didn't need to answer. Personna was touching certain areas of Luna's mangled body. "Take a good long look at her body. Do you see the black and blue blossoming around her eyes? The long red finger-like marks on her arm? The killer obviously spent a lot of time bruising the girl prior to taking her life, through suffocation nonetheless." Personna's tone was becoming more and more at ease, as if he had lived the story. "This meant he wanted her pain to last as long as possible, considering suffocation is such a long and excruciating death. You can assume that since he took the effort for such foreplay because it excited him to hear her screams of pain, and her cries of agony," his gaze became slightly dazed and a chill ran down the back of every student in the room.

"Clearly this was the work of a sociopath, so we can only expect to see more killings derived from this one person," Personna laughed lightly, a cold edge in his voice. "Class dismissed."

**Well that was creeptacular. Now you guys know all the gooey ewy stuff that happened to Luna while she was being killed! :D YAY FOR MUTLIATION! And by the way, the joke Hotaru made about right hands? If you don't get that, then ask an older brother or something XD**

** But on a serious note (yeah right, how serious can I get?) next chapter is going to have a little bit of Hotaru x Ruka for those of you who are into that kind of thing XP SEE YOU ALL WHEN I SEE YOU AND I REALLY WANT ONE OF THOSE CRUNCH GIRLSCOUT COOKIE BARS.**


	6. Chapter 6: Surprise!

**Oh my gosh, my cousins and I went tubing, and before the boat starts, you're supposed to lean backwards, but my stupid – yet fabulous – cousin told me to lean forwards, so I ended up falling into the ocean *facepalm* And oh my gosh, at my beach house, I managed to find the first three ORIGINAL pokemon movies. :DDDD Anyway. Here's the chapter!**

"I'm so happy I could finally convince you guys to come to the town around the school here!" Mikan squealed, bouncing up and down in her seat. Hotaru, who was to her left, rolled her eyes and slumped on her hand, staring out the window of the bus driving them to their destination. Natsume, who was to Mikan's right, bit back an insult about her childish nature, because he had promised to be nice. As to why, he still wasn't sure. Mikan frowned and stopped her bouncing. "It's too bad Ruka couldn't come though."

"He said that he had to go run an errand," Natsume ran a hand through his inky hair. While Hotaru was staring out the window, she didn't notice the discreet wink that Mikan gave Natsume.

"Are we here?" Mikan asked, excitement creeping into her voice as the bus lurched. Natsume squeezed her hand, his way of nodding to her. "YAY!"

Hotaru hopped up first and strolled lazily out of the bus doors. Natsume gently tugged Mikan, who stumbled behind him as he carefully led her down the steps of the bus. Once they were out and the bus had driven away, they started making their way into the bustling town.

"There are vendors on everywhere you look," Hotaru described to a supposedly intently listening Mikan. "The ground is cobblestone instead of the typical pavement. All of the store windows are really bright and colorful."

Mikan nodded, but Hotaru knew that her attention was more focused on the occasional kisses Natsume was brushing against their interlocked hands. Hotaru didn't really care; she figured that the two would probably want some time on their own. Everybody was constantly around them, so they didn't get much time together. Hotaru had expected this to happen, so she had prepared for this situation.

"I'm going to go look for new cameras. The quality of my current one isn't very good." Hotaru gave them a brief wave and started walking down a street adjacent to the one they were walking on.

"Bye bye!" Mikan waved rapidly at the disappearing figure of her friend. Once she was sure Hotaru was gone, she turned excitedly to Natsume. "I can't believe our plan worked!"

"I can. I made it after all." Natsume smirked at her.

"You're cocky," she stuck her tongue out at him. "Now lead me to the closest bakery! We have a mission to complete!"

Hotaru wandered aimlessly. She did want a new camera, but she didn't particularly feel like walking to where the store was. She was feeling slightly lonely though. If only that ridiculous Ruka had come, she wouldn't be walking around without anybody to at least listen to.

"Hotaru!"

Hotaru glanced in the direction of the noise shouting her name, and looked away, uninterested when she saw it was only Sumire. Soon she heard cursing and hissing as Sumire shoved through the crowd to get to Hotaru. She wrapped her fingers around Hotaru's elbow and yanked her to the side, out of the sea of people, and beside a clothing store.

"Hotaru," Sumire said seriously. "I've noticed your wardrobe is very drab. So I decided, being the fabulous friend I am, I will buy you a new outfit which you will wear today."

Hotaru quickly weighed the pros and cons of the situation in her head. Cons. Sumire would probably irritate her to no end. She would have to wear whatever that green haired fiend picked out. Pros. It would be a distraction from the solitude from before. She would get something for free. She could always sell it later. Hotaru decided to follow Sumire and graciously accept this very random gift.

"Put this on!" Sumire shoved something that was a dark purple and very shirt-like. Hotaru frowned at it.

"What is this abomination?"

"It's a cute shirt. You wear it when you want to look nice." Sumire deadpanned while shoving Hotaru into heaving her into a dressing room. "There's a shirt in there too. Put them on. I already paid for them, like the fabulous friend I am," Sumire patted herself on the back.

Hotaru stared at the clothes distastefully, but she had already agreed to try them on, and she wasn't exactly the type to go back on their word. She slipped out of her normal clothes and put on what Sumire had picked out for her. She couldn't exactly say she was impressed.

"When was the last time you had an appointment to check your vision?" Hotaru asked with mild interest.

"A month ago! Those clothes are perfect and you know it!"

Perfect wouldn't be the word Hotaru would use, but she decided to keep silent. Sumire had picked out a fairly short, for Hotaru's standards – meaning about mid-thigh, black skirt. The shirt was a dark violet strapless top that perfectly matched the complexion of her pale and creamy skin.

Sumire whistled. "You are looking hot. Now go on out there. I've exhausted my fill of nice for the day."

Hotaru raised an eyebrow, but said nothing and walked out the door of the shop, her thoughts only repeating on how useless that detour was. The longer she thought about it, the more annoyed she got.

Hotaru didn't even realize it, but somehow, in the midst of her irritated rant inside her mind, she finally paid attention to the world around her, and found herself walking alone down a sidewalk. The sun had bathed the area in its rusty golden rays. A scuffling noise caught Hotaru's attention, and she was suddenly aware that she wasn't so alone after all.

There were three guys behind her, and they were slowly decreasing the distance between her and them. Hotaru, who usually felt so calm and collected, felt the smallest bit of anxiety squeeze her heart. She quickened her pace slightly, but not enough to give them a hint that she had figured out their intentions. She patted her pants, until she realized, she wasn't wearing pants. She had stupidly not transferred her inventions from her previous outfit to this new one she was growing to detest.

"Hey, babe," one called after her, his voice unpleasant and greasy. "You wanna come play with us?"

Hotaru turned around only to find out, to her shock and slight terror, that they were significantly closer than she thought. If one of them took two steps, they would be able to grab her.

"No thank you," she said coldly, though inside she was trembling with fear. She was scared, obviously because of these men, but also because she was terrified of being scared. She was used to being calm and collected, but now she was reduced to a petrified unintimidating and vulnerable girl. She didn't like to think of herself as such, but she couldn't deny the fact, that at the moment, she was just like one.

"Aw come on, we're real nice to pretty girls like you," another one drawled, giving her a slick smile as he tugged on one of her short raven locks.

"I'm not going anywhere with you inarticulate idiots," Hotaru tried to walk away again, but the first guy grabbed her elbow.

"Hey," he growled. "You should really rethink—"

"Kindly remove your hands from my girlfriend," a dark and furious voice snapped.

Hotaru's gaze shot to her savior, and was completely stunned to see who it was.

"Ruka," she whispered, soft enough so he wouldn't hear her murmur his first name.

The guy loosened his grip, but didn't release her entirely. "And what if I don't?"

"Then I'm going to have to use force," Ruka gave the guy a sinister glare that Hotaru didn't even know he was capable of.

"No need, bro. We're out." The man said quickly and he and his friends left.

Ruka's previously malicious gaze turned soft as he looked at Hotaru. "Hey, are you okay?"

Hotaru decided to avoid the question. "I thought you were running an errand."

"I was." Ruka said smoothly, running a hand through his tousled blonde hair. "And then I finished, so I decided to find you, because I figured Mikan and Natsume were going to be receiving alone time."

"You catch on quick, Nogi." Hotaru nodded approvingly.

He smiled slightly, but his face turned serious once again. "But are you okay?"

Hotaru thought about it for a moment. Was she okay? She was so scared before, but now that Ruka was here, she felt fine. Better than fine actually. A warm and fluttery feeling was enveloping her chest. It only increased and fluttered when he pulled her into his arms and gave her a hug. "I was so worried about you."

"Why?" she asked softly, not thinking he heard her question.

"Because I—" he stopped in mid sentence and turned slightly red. _This is more the Ruka I know_, Hotaru thought. He relinquished his grip on her very swiftly. "N-Nevermind. Now, why don't we go back to the dorms?"

"Sure," Hotaru smirked, feeling better than ever.

"Happy birthday, Hotaru!"

Hotaru's jaw almost dropped, but she fought the urge and just stared at the room in front of her. She hadn't even remembered it was her birthday. The idiot who had probably thought of all of this was grinning like a maniac next to a two tiered purple and white cake.

"What is this?" Hotaru asked in a monotone, mostly because she was trying not to choke up.

"It's your surprise birthday party!" Mikan giggled, throwing her arms around her friend. For once, Hotaru did nothing to push her back. "Natsume and I got all of the decorations and cake and such after you left and do you like it?"

"I don't hate it," she responded curtly, giving the idiot a small pat on the head.

Mikan beamed and then bounced back to Natsume who was sitting lazily on the couch in the room. Natsume smirked at Ruka. "Your turn."

Hotaru turned to Ruka, her eyebrows raised. He flushed slightly but brought out something behind his back. Hotaru carefully took it and examined the box, her eyes huge. "A new camera?"

"The newest one there is." He scratched the back of his neck.

Her violet eyes softened. "Thank you."

"H-Hey guys," Sumire was looking at her phone. "Sorry to stop the celebration, but it looks like there were two more murders."

**OH WHOA. HOLY DUCKS. That just happened. Yesterday my cousins and I met two boys on the beach, and it was so ridiculously funny and stupid and oh wow. Anyways, thanks for waiting so long peoples! I know how annoying it is to wait for a chapter. If you're bored waiting, check out my other story Mikan's Mailbox! Hugs and butterfly kisses (avpm – search it if you don't know what it is)!**


	7. Chapter 7: It only gets better

**I'm back home and exhausted, but relieved. After being with my family for a week, I get sick of them. That's why we have a year in between this trip each time we go! :D I'm sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but my computer deleted my chapter plan, and I had to go on my email to get it back, but I couldn't do that on my laptop because my email makes it run slowly, and UGH. ANYWAYS! Chapter time!**

"Are you kidding me?" Nonoko was the first one to break the silence. She and Anna had been laughing and enjoying themselves watching Ruka be so embarrassed and Hotaru being the nicest she's ever been, but the news had obviously sobered them considerably.

"Unfortunately, no." Sumire swiped her finger across the screen of her phone. She made a noise of disgust. "The bodies were apparently mangled beyond recognition, but they were both carrying I.D.'s. The first body they found was one of a local store owner. The second one was…" her eyes widened slightly. "The chairman of this school."

The anxiety level of the room was palpable. Kitsuneme decided to ask the question on everybody's mind, but nobody was willing to voice. "W-Where was he murdered?"

"In his house, about five minutes away from here." Sumire clenched her eyes closed and her body was taut as a wire. "A bit too close for comfort."

Koko, who was usually a jesting fool, approached his girlfriend and massaged her shoulders gently. "It'll be fine." He peered over her shoulder to the article pulled up on her phone to search for something that might help comfort her. "There are police swarming all over the campus anyways, so the likelihood of the killer making another move tonight is incredibly small. Relax."

Sumire stared at Koko before screeching, "OH MY GOD! YOU MUST BE THE KILLER AND YOU KILLED KOKO BECAUSE HE WOULD NEVER SAY THAT!"

Koko realized himself what he said and his mouth dropped open in horror. "OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT!"

"W-Wait, what's going on?" Mikan looked around frantically, not thinking clearly enough to realize that she wouldn't be able to see anything in the room anyway. Natsume poked her head and she whipped around, trying to find something to focus on. "What?!"

"They're just trying to break the ice," he flicked her forehead. "Idiot. Don't overreact so much."

"I don't think I'm overreacting at all!" she grouched, not enjoying being called an idiot. "I mean, two people are dead."

"Probably because of a sociopathic killer," Anna felt the need to add for some reason. Seeing Mikan's uneasy face, she quickly followed her statement by, "But as Koko said, he's probably back in hiding."

"It's weird though," Koko frowned. He was planning on going into criminal justice because of his natural ability to read people and their expressions. "From what I've learned so far, killers usually target the same victims. The victims for this killer though have varied like crazy. Luna was a young bitchy blonde whore. The chairman was an intelligent bald old man. The storeowner was middle-aged. There's no pattern."

"It only makes him that much more dangerous," Yuu said softly from the couch. "It means that he isn't playing by any rules, and he can do what he wants."

"That's enough." Natsume snapped. His arms were wound around Mikan's waist and he was patting her head in trying to calm down her horrified face. His glare petrified the timid Yuu and he shrunk down in his seat. "Nothing's going to happen."

"Really?" Mikan asked in a small voice. Natsume took her hand and placed it on his cheek so she could feel him nod to reassure her. "Okay…"

Sumire shoved her phone in her pocket. She was sick of the entire thing. "Alright. Enough of this depressing atmosphere. We're celebrating something, now let's party."

Sumire shuffled over to the speakers attached to Koko's phone and turned the dial so that music blared throughout the room, bouncing off its small walls. She started to sway her hips to the music and then shimmied over to Hotaru, a wicked grin plastered on her face. She grabbed Hotaru's pale hand and dragged her to the middle of the room and started dancing around.

Now even though Hotaru didn't dance, and she hated doing it, she thought it was amusing to watch everybody gradually join in. Koko quickly jumped in and twirled Sumire in a circle as the drums pounded out the rhythm their feet unconsciously followed. Anna and Nonoko snatched Yuu and Kitsuneme's hands and forced them to start spinning around with them. A small smile played on Ruka's face, before Natsume pushed him into the mayhem and right next to Hotaru. Ruka flushed slightly, but smiled slightly as he extended his hand. "Dance with me?"

Hotaru refused to say yes; she wouldn't let her pride sink that low. But, she did place her hand in his and let him sway her from side to side as the music slowed down moving to the next song. Mikan's fingers brushed against Natsume's face. "Can we dance?"

"Absolutely not." Is what Natsume would say if Mikan wasn't looking so eager, her sightless eyes shining with excitement. He sighed and pulled her over to where everybody else was as they started to dance.

**Well. That was it. :3 Two more people dead, but they're going to try and pretend like they might not get killed. Next chapter is going to be another chapter! I know! I'm so specific! By the way, HEY PEOPLE! I have a tumblr :D If you want to follow me, feel free! My blog is called, From the Girl Who Asks Too Many Questions. Check it out! Follow me! Stalk me! Take my cats and sacrifice their blood so you can get extra donuts at Krispy Kreme! I'm pretty sure that last sentence made no sense! See you guys next chapter! OH YEAH. AND FEEL FREE TO REVIEW OR FOLLOW MY STORY~!**


	8. Chapter 8: Thanksgiving Break

**Annnnd I'm back! I hope you guys aren't sick of me like all of my friends are!**

**Haha! I'm joking! I don't have friends!**

**Anyhow! Here's another chapter for you lovely folks! I think that the chapters will be getting a little bit more intense after this one. At least I hope so. I had a subway cookie today and it tasted fabulous. STORY TIME!**

"Come on, Polka," Natsume pounded on the door, irritated. His unruly raven hair was sticking out, but he didn't really have time to fix it considering how early they would have to leave. "We need to leave now, so get your slow ass out here."

The door creaked open a bit and Mikan stuck her head out, only to stick her tongue out at him. "Don't be such a meanie, Natsume. I still need to finish getting ready, and then I will be out—"

"Imai," Natsume called into the depths of the room. "Is she ready?"

"Yes." A monotonous voice replied. Mikan groaned and her head hung low. "Fine… Can you help me bring my stuff to the car?"

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes as she swung the door open. He grabbed her suit case. "I'm going to put it in the car. Imai, make sure she comes out in five minutes," and he started trudging down the steps, Mikan's light pink suit case in tow.

"Come on, idiot." Hotaru flicked Mikan's forehead. "We need to get going."

Crocodile tears filled Mikan's eyes and she threw her arms around the stoic girl in front of her. Hotaru raised an eyebrow at the girl embracing her. "We're going back to the same town, idiot. We are going to see each other over thanksgiving break."

"B-But, you're going to be driving with Ruka!" she wailed. Hotaru was selfishly glad for a milli-second that Mikan couldn't see, so that she wouldn't notice the small smile that flashed across the inventor's face. Hotaru patted the upset girl's head.

"And you're going to be driving with Natsume," Hotaru pulled back from Mikan. "Now come on, speaking of Hyuuga, your five minutes is only up."

"Fine," Mikan sulked as Hotaru walked out the door, their index fingers linked so that Mikan wouldn't run into anything. Hotaru squinted as the sun's blinding rays hit her. Mikan's lips turned up into a soft smile at the feel of its warm glow on her skin. Natsume noticed the two coming out of the girl's dormitory and strolled over to them. He took Mikan's hand and gave Hotaru a curt nod. Mikan turned to Hotaru one last time and grasped Hotaru's hand with her free one. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Lord forbid you go forty-eight hours without me," Hotaru shook her head and squeezed Mikan's hand. "Bye, idiot."

Natsume pulled her towards his black Honda pilot. He opened up the car door and spotted her, concern barely noticeable on his face as she climbed in. Once she was safely in her seat, Natsume closed the door and hopped into his seat while he turned on the ignition. He glanced at Mikan. "You ready?"

Mikan nodded happily. "It's time to go home."

* * *

"Everything has to be perfect!" Kaoru snapped at the weary Misaki and Tsubasa. The house was completely spotless. Every inch of the large mansion was wiped until it was shining, swept until it glowed, and dusted until the cleaners felt like their arms would fall off. The couple had got off lucky though; Narumi was still being worked to the bone by cleaning all the windows for the fourth time.

"Mom," Tsubasa's legs shook from the mere effort of standing up. "They're just coming home for a week, and I think you've worked Narumi so hard that the glitter on his apron is falling off."

Kaoru glared at him, while Misaki took small steps backwards so she wouldn't be caught in the middle of this. "Don't you back-talk me young—" she was cut off by the sound of the large mahogany doors opening.

"—No, Natsume, I'm serious. Stop laughing! I think that—Stop it! I _do_ think I can get an A on my next exam!"

Kaoru's eyes widened and she bolted towards the doorway. She tackled the two in a giant, very motherly hug and squealed, "You're home!"

Neither Mikan nor Natsume were that surprised with her welcome. They were used to Natsume's mother eccentric ways and greetings. Mikan gave her a big hug back while Natsume just gave his mother the gift of letting her hug him. She finally relinquished her death grip on them and beamed. "I'm so happy you're home! Tsubasa and Misaki are back on the top of the staircase. Narumi should be about finished with the windows now…"

Right on cue, Narumi collapsed in the entrance of one of the hallways, looking completely exhausted and worn out. He looked at Mikan and Natsume with heavy-lidded eyes and gave them a feeble wave. "Helllooo Mikan-chan, Natsume-kun."

Mikan gave him a confused but cheerful wave back; she wasn't exactly sure why his greeting sounded so tired or why it sounded like it was on the ground. Natsume ignored it entirely because he never did like his mother's flamboyant best friend. The three got up from their seats, and Mikan gave Natsume's black jacket a tug. "Will you lead me to Misaki and Tsubasa?"

"No need little sister!" Misaki danced into the room and enveloped her favorite little sister in a hug. "I will always come to you because I love you that much!"

"I missed you too Misaki-nee," Mikan giggled. Soon, another pair of arms wrapped around Misaki and Mikan. Mikan immediately knew it was Tsubasa, because she knew that Natsume would never willingly hug Misaki. He had nothing against the girl; he just didn't care enough to hug her. "Hi Tsubasa-nii!"

"Hello my darling little sister! How has college been? You look too skinny. How are things with Natsume?" Tsubasa asked the last question with a sour look on his face.

Natsume decided to answer for her. "She's still stupid when it comes to academics, trust me she's not skinny, she's been eating like a pig, and things with Natsume are going fantastic."

Mikan glowered in the direction of his voice. "Not with the way he talks about his darling girlfriend, they aren't."

"I _like_ the way things are going," Tsubasa grinned delightedly. Even though he knew that Natsume and Mikan balanced each other out well, he wasn't happy when he found out they were together. He believed that his darling younger sister was way too amazing and awesome for his idiot younger brother.

"Go get Mikan's things out of the car," Kaoru gave Natsume a light swat on the head with disapproving, yet playful eyes. Kaoru then turned to the girl who was like her daughter. "Now Mikan, thanksgiving is in two days, so you can help me co—I mean, you can go shopping with Natsume before we start cooking tomorrow."

Mikan gave her aunt a sad smile. Usually Mikan would help Kaoru around the kitchen, assisting her in basting the turkey or mixing the stuffing. Ever since the accident though, Mikan has had to take the back seat when it comes to helping with tasks. Her aunt still wasn't accustomed to not having her chipper little assistant always eager to do another chore, just to help out.

"Alright, Auntie." Mikan heard the door open and the labored breath of her boyfriend coming from the doorway. She then heard the loud pound of bags hitting the floor as Natsume relieved his arms of the effort. Mikan gave him a very sweet, very innocent, and very adorable smile. "Ne, Natsume?"

Natsume internally groaned because he already knew he would be giving in to whatever she requested. "What?"

"Can we go to see Youi—"

"Was somebody missing me?" a sixteen year old Youichi smirked from the doorway. Natsume's face slipped into a scowl at the presence of the teenage boy. Youichi walked towards Mikan, whose face was now glowing with excitement, and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Youichi!" Mikan squealed into his chest. At sixteen, he had grown so to a respectable – and slightly intimidating – six foot. Mikan's head couldn't even tap his chin. His silvery gray hair was shaggy and ear length and ruffled from the air that whooshed through it when Natsume pushed him backwards.

"Alright," Natsume growled. He and Youichi had their alpha male auras turned on at full power, and the crackling they created as they tried to beat each other out was almost heard by everyone in the room.

Misaki gave Tsubasa an amused glance. "Do you think anyone else realized that you were never a contestant in this alpha male contest in the first place?"

Tsubasa squeezed his eyes shut. "I was hoping nobody would notice. Let's keep this quiet."

* * *

"… So we have to get the ingredients for the potatoes, the jello," Mikan rattled off her mental list. Her fingers were intertwined with Natsume as he rolled the grocery cart through the store. He reached over and gave her shoulder a sharp pinch. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I already know what we have to get, so I don't need you yapping about it." Natsume stated as they approached one of their many destinations in the store.

A trip that would've usually taken the two thirty minutes ended up taking them an hour and a half because of all the people who stopped to say hi to them. Natsume ignored the majority of them, so Mikan would greet them on his behalf and since she was chatter mouth, they would end up talking twice as long as they would have, had Natsume just said hello.

"Ne, Natsume," Mikan asked absentmindedly as she played with his fingers while he steered the car with one hand. "Can you read me something when we get back, while auntie is cooking?"

Natsume glanced at his girlfriend. Her expression was wistful and her lips were turned up in a pensive smile. "Why me? And I can't read your Braille books."

"Well yeah," Mikan looked contemplative. "But you can read one of your books, like you used to when we were in elementary school."

"That was only because you were too stupid to read those books yourself."

"Please?" Mikan planted a sweet kiss on each of his knuckles. Natsume's resolve crumbled so he just gave a heavy sigh "Fine."

They arrived back at the Hyuuga's large house and dropped the groceries on the counter. Kaoru didn't even look around to see who it was or what they were doing, she was so focused on cooking and answering Misaki's questions about cooking. She just said, "Thanks," and returned her full attention back to her work.

Natsume brought Mikan back up to his room. He was glad his mother hadn't tampered with anything in there while he was gone. His dark red carpet was the same, his comforter was still black and not a psychedelic tye dye like his mother threatened, and it was still bare for the most part, except for the few pictures that hung on his white walls.

Mikan knew how clean and orderly Natsume kept his room, so she had no doubts of her ability to get to his room without tripping on something on the floor. Her knees bumped into his soft mattress, so she crawled on top of it and snuggled under his covers.

"What book do you want me to read?" Natsume asked as he scanned over the books from his childhood. Since he was hospitalized for a while when he was younger, his mother bought him a lot of reading material to keep him occupied. Unconsciously, his hand started reaching for the one he used to read to Mikan all the time at the same time she answered him.

"Pickle-Chiffon Pie," Natsume grinned to himself. He knew what she would answer.

He climbed under his blankets next to her. She moved closer to his warm body and nuzzled her head against his shoulder. He reached around her shoulder so that he could still hold the book and so that his arm was still holding her tight against his body. "_A long time ago there was a fat little king…_"

* * *

"—Sume! Natsume!" Kaoru swung open his door. She had finished dinner ten minutes ago and had called his and Mikan's names over and over, but they hadn't answered. To say she was livid would be an understatement. Well, that was before she notice the sweet site before her.

Mikan was nestled against Natsume, her head tucked under his chin. Natsume's arm was loosely wrapped around her body and his other one was barely gripping a book Kaoru recognized as one he used to read when he was a kid. She read the last words in the page that the book was flipped open to. "_… And guess who sent Bernard and the Princess the biggest pickle-chiffon pie anyone ever saw for a wedding present? That's right – the three-nosed snozzle with the fuzzy ears and the orange polka dot tie._" She smiled and turned back towards the door. "I think I'll let you sleep a little more."

* * *

"I can't believe we already have to go back to college," Mikan sighed, as her face rested on her palm while she stared out the window.

"Once you leave, hell always wants you back." Natsume replied.

**:3 There you go! I'm so sorry for how long this took me, I got stuck and I was annoyed and then I had to do crap and I'M SO SORRY! By the way peeps, I'm not sure if pickle-chiffon pie is in print at all, but it is one of the best children's books of all time. It's written by "Jolly Rodger" Bradfield and is so cute and so amazing and READ IT.**

**Thank you for visiting another lil' old chapter of mine and I hope that you don't want to stab me for waiting so long to put this out! I love reviews, so feel free to leave them! I love followers and favorites, so feel free to do that! I love Broadway musicals, so feel free to send me tickets to EVERY SINGLE SHOW ON BROADWAY! :DDDD AND MOST OF ALL, I LOVE YOU!**


	9. Chapter 9: Back Into the Swing of Things

**Guuuuyuyuyuyuys school is starting soon and my brothers going to college on my birthday and I have to do my English still and SHIT IS GETTING REAL.**

**SO THAT'S WHY I'M IGNORING ALL OF THAT AND WRITING THIS STORY AND READING FANFICS INSTEAD!**

"It's so good to be back," Mikan sighed happily, lying on her bed. Hotaru flicked through the newspaper in her hands, not really listening to her best friend's sentiments about how excited she was to be back. The seasons were already starting to shift. The humid autumn air was turning into crisp and icy perfection. The golden leaves that covered the campus were swirling about leaving the trees bare and ready to put on their fluffy snowy coats.

"… it's awful that somebody else was killed though," Mikan continued, this time frowning. Upon arriving back, Mikan and Natsume were informed that the killer had struck again. Luckily, this time it was a little farther away, but not any less tragic.

"The idiot police finally decided that the same person killed all four people." Hotaru turned the page and began to scan the text while scorning the local authority. "Took them long enough. I wonder if they even have a profile of who the killer is at this point."

"Hotaru, they're trying the best they can," Mikan scolded her roommate. "Be a little nicer."

"No."

Mikan rolled her eyes and started musing out loud on what she would like to do with everyone now that she's back. "I think that we should all go see a movie or something. WithOUT the boys. Like a girls day out! It would be me, you, Permy, Anna, and Nonoko! Oh my gosh, now I'm all excited about it, it HAS to happen!"

Hotaru nodded absent-mindedly, not really knowing what she was agreeing to. She was more focused on an article that had to do with how robotics research was falling into a lull. _Not when I get out there _Hotaru thought smugly.

"Ne, Hotaru, what time is it?" Mikan questioned the stoic female.

"One o'clock."

"Oh my gosh!" Mikan gasped. "I'm going to be late for my—"

Mikan was interrupted by a pounding on her door. Hotaru gave an annoyed sigh and hopped up to inspect who was in front of their room. Hotaru rolled her eyes at the visitor and turned back to Mikan. "Go get your flute, idiot. Hyuuga's here to pick you up for your music course."

"Oh, okay! Thank you Hotaru!" Mikan grasped the handle of her flute case and swung open the door, greeting her violin-holding boyfriend. Mikan waved goodbye to Hotaru one last time before the door slammed shut, leaving Hotaru alone in the room.

"You're lucky you have somebody to keep you on time," Hotaru muttered to herself before going back to reading her article.

"Natsume are we starting a new song today?" Mikan skipped along side Natsume as they headed towards the music building.

"Yeah. The lady said that she would leave your music on the stand." Mikan had to get music sheets with Braille on it. It was fairly easy to read, but it meant that to play, she had to memorize the entire piece before being able to play it. Mikan squealed with excitement and begged Natsume to go faster so that she could start learning the piece.

They finally arrived at the elegant building and went into their practice room. The majority of the teachers in the field were old-fashioned and believed that the area where music is played, should be as beautiful as the music itself. The chandeliers glistened and threw their glowing lights across the glimmering white grand piano. Mikan and Natsume's feet sunk into the plush red velvet carpet as they approached the music stands.

Mikan carefully popped open the lid of her flute case and meticulously assembled the silver gleaming instrument. She stood up and reached out to feel for the music stand. Her fingers danced across the first two lines of the music. _D. (high) G A… _She closed her eyes and nodded to herself as she attempted to commit it to memory. "Okay, can we do the first two lines?"

"Yeah."

Mikan put the flute in starting position and placed her soft lips on the metal mouth piece as Natsume counted to the intro. "2, 3, 4."

Mikan and Natsume started playing in unison, the beginning of the melody pouring out of their instruments. After the first two systems (**for those of you who don't know, a system is a line of music**) sound on Mikan's part stopped. It took Natsume a few seconds to remember that he had to stop as well. Mikan brushed her hair back with her fingers guiltily, "Sorry. Let me learn the rest of the page."

Natsume studied her. She was feeling slightly pressured today, he supposed. "Don't push yourself."

Mikan nodded, barely hearing her boyfriend's advice as her fingers skimmed the entire page and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. After about thirty seconds, she brought her hand back and put the flute back on her mouth. Natsume shrugged and put the violin back on his shoulder as he counted once again for them to start. "2, 3, 4."

They played through the first half of the page flawlessly, but after that, Mikan started to play wrong notes. Before even reaching the end of the page, she brought down her flute and made a noise of frustration. Natsume removed his bow off of his violin and placed it on the ground and approached his upset partner. He cupped her cheek with one of his hands. "Tell me."

"I-I just can't Natsume." She buried her face in the comforting hand that lay on her soft skin. "I can't do it." Natsume rolled his eyes slightly and he pinched her nose. "O-Ow!"

"Relax, Polka. You're just stressed out. You played perfectly fine before thanksgiving break, and you'll play perfect afterwards. Let's just take a break for today." Mikan gave him an anxious look.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You're such a softie!" she cried wrapping her arms around him in a fierce bear hug. He immediately pulled back, glaring. Mikan felt the curve of his eyebrows and frowned. "Why are you glaring?"

"Did you just call me a softie?" Mikan giggled in response and Natsume just shrugged, instead of the growl Mikan was expecting. "I guess you're not getting any howalon any time soon." And he started walking out of the room. After Mikan registered what he said, she scrambled after him, trying not to run into anything as she shouted, "Wait! Natsume! GIVE ME THE HOAWLON!"

**I'M SORRY FOR THE LATE DELAY BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT I SWEAR. I STARTED WATCHING THIS ADDICTIVE SHOW CALLED AMERICAN HORROR STORY AND IT TOOK UP ALL OF MY TIME.**

**On the bright side, I'm going to make something delicious today. Not sure what, but it's going to happen! Thank you for reading, feel free to leave me a review! Feel free to leave me a squirrelador! Feel free to leave me bad pick up lines because I REALLY enjoy those. See you next chapter, you beautiful people!**


	10. Chapter 10: Disappear

**Annnd I'm back! This fanfic is not sponsored by Cheerios! I don't know why you wanted to know, but I start school the 27****th****! XD A squirrelador is a half Labrador half squirrel. It's fabulous. BACK TO THE STORY!**

"Koko," Ruka asked timidly, a bit afraid of the answer he would receive from the crazy blonde. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Permy," he was crouched behind a leafless shrub and looking suspiciously in every direction.

"Why?" Natsume sighed, questioning why he hung out with this idiot. Why anybody hung out with that idiot. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even understand why Koko existed in the first place.

"Because," Koko hissed, still jerking his head back and forth in a frantic manner, not noticing that his raven haired friend was contemplating one of life's greatest questions, "I gave her a shampoo as a thanksgiving parting gift, and yesterday she told me she was going to use it that night! Then Kitsuneme told me he put dye in it! Do you know what that means?! THAT MEANS THAT I AM GOING TO DIE!"

"Just tell her that it wasn't your fault," Ruka tried to calm his frantic friend down with the advice. Koko turned to him, a demonic look in his eyes.

"SHE WON'T LISTEN TO ME! SHE IS GOING TO HURT—"

"HELL YEAH YOU'RE GOING TO HURT!" a very deep, very furious voice growled. Koko turned around, terror glazing his eyes over as he saw the murderous expression in her green orbs. Koko wasn't sure if it was the petrifying glare she was giving him, or her hot pink hair, but he knew that she was mad at him, and he wasn't going to stick around to find out his punishment.

"I don't get their relationship," Ruka shook his head as Sumire went for Koko's head with her razor-sharp nails screaming something like, 'YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GIVE BIRTH'. Natsume clapped the pretty boy on the shoulder and gave him a look that said, 'if you try to understand your head will explode'.

"Is Permy trying to kill Koko already?" Mikan giggled as she heard the noises that swirled around the group as Sumire and Koko ran in circles.

"I wouldn't say trying," Hotaru raised a perfectly sketched eyebrow at the insane couple. "I think she'll succeed this time."

"Well it's almost time for class," Ruka glanced at his wrist-watch. "Should we be going in?"

"I feel bad leaving them like that." Mikan frowned as Natsume grabbed her wrist.

"Don't feel bad for people who are children of the devil." Natsume told her as he dragged her into the classroom, ignoring her, "W-What?!"

Once they sat in their seats, they heard the door swing open, the creaking noise it made heard over the low hum of conversation buzzing about in the lecture hall. Sumire and Koko staggered to their seats, Sumire's hair looking frizzy and wild and Koko's face blooming black and blue. Sumire flopped down into her seat next to Hotaru and Koko collapsed in his seat next to Natsume, clutching his crotch. Natsume eyed where his hand was. "She was serious about the birth thing."

Koko gave Natsume a traumatized and teary eyed nod.

"Alright class." Personna's voice swept over the classroom, the talking dying down almost immediately. He held up a stack of papers and placed them on his podium in the front of the room. "I want you to turn to page 83 and read that lesson. You will have to write an essay about Acceptance In Society; the paper on the podium has the requirements for what will be in your essay. Get started."

The shuffling of papers erupted in the room as people got up and moved around so that they could get started on the essay. Personna walked over to Mikan and put his cold hand on her shoulder, a sickly sweet smile on his face. "Here's your paper." And he handed her a Braille sheet before walking away. Mikan shuddered slightly and then started reading about the assignment.

"'The need to be accepted by your peers and the people around you is an instinct ingrained deeply into the human psyche," Sumire read in a monotone, mocking the text. She couldn't help but make fun of it. The text was just so bland and boring, and reminded her exactly of how Hotaru talks. Ruka and Hotaru were scratching notes on the information into their notebooks. Koko was wincing as he shifted in his seat every few seconds; he wasn't good at staying still, which wasn't exactly helping him with his current condition. Natsume and Mikan was shirking their work with a quiet conversation, when suddenly, three men burst through the door.

All of them had buzz-cuts and were wearing police uniforms underneath bullet proof vests. The tallest one in the middle whipped out his gun and pointed it at Personna. "Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"

Personna's face stretched into a slow smile. "Why hello there gentleman. What brings you to my psychology class?"

"Personna Rei," the police officer barked as his associated went on either side of Personna and brought his hands down to cuff him. "You are being arrested for the suspected murder of Koizumi Luna, Miyamura Tadase, Chairman Hori, and Ishikawa Akito!" there was no noise in the classroom other than the gravelly commanding voice of the officer. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law! You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. I have read you these rights, do you understand?"

"Yes, yes," Personna waved his hand lazily. "You may proceed with the dramatics."

The officer's eyebrow twitched. "Take him to the squad car."

"WAIT!" a male voice stopped the scene that unfolded before them. The police officer looked at a blonde with a wide grin across his face.

"What?" he seethed, not caring for the young adults wishes.

"Do we still have to do this essay?"

Personna looked as if he was thinking about it. "Well, since I am being carted off to jail, I suppose you no longer have to do it. Have a nice day, children."

"You too Personna!" Koko called as the police dragged him out of the lecture hall, the door slamming behind them. Koko looked at his stunned classmates and opened the door back up. "Um, guys, I think the class is over."

**So what did you guys think? Stuff is getting intense! My language arts teacher gave me a paskelle (you know the chameleon from tangled?) before school ended and I spent like half of my day today asking it grammar questions during this story.**

**It didn't answer.**

**So that's that, and the next chapter should come on Saturday! Probably! See you all in my dreams! o w o That's right. I'm dreaming about you…**

***creepy***

**LOVE YOU!**


	11. Chapter 11: A Girl's Day Out

**I said this on my other story, but I will say it again, I LOVE DR. WHO. IT IS SO FLIPPING AMAZING AND HILARIOUS AND I'M LOVING LIFE SO HARD HARD HARD. "Who ever looked at a screwdriver and said, 'Hm we should make this sonic!'" Anyhow, story story story time! Oh, and by the way guys, I don't know if you've noticed, but in my version of the story, Sumire never has and probably never will hate Mikan, and treats her pretty well, so SORRY IF YOU HATE THAT AND ME! STORY!**

"Everybody's here and I'm so excited!" Mikan giggled looking around enthusiastically. Her best friend to her right, Sumire to her left, Anna and Nonoko sitting across from them, it was a girl's day out.

"Settle down, idiot," Hotaru commanded Mikan, giving her a glare with her cold violet eyes. Hotaru looked over Mikan to give Sumire a pained look. "Why did we invite her along?"

Sumire snickered and just patted Hotaru's head which received a dangerous finger twitch on the trigger of the baka gun. "Silly Hotaru. Mikan's the one that organized the whole thing. And anyway, if we left her behind she would have been crying and then Natsume would have crucified us."

"True," Anna and Nonoko chorused.

"I have a feeling that you guys would have left me behind if it weren't for Natsume," Mikan said suspiciously.

That statement was followed by a very awkward silence.

"Guys!" Mikan exclaimed.

"What?" Sumire said defensively. "You talk a lot! Who knows what's going to happen while we're in the movie theater? What if you talk during a movie and somebody gets mad and then tries to kill us all with five small daggers?"

"That was incredibly specific," Hotaru studied the green haired girl with slight interest. "I feel like I should have some sliver of respect for you now. I don't, but I feel like I should." Hotaru said as she mentally put Sumire on her suspects-for-when-I'm-murdered list.

"Well… Thanks. I guess."

The bus jerked forwards, signaling their stop. Mikan tightened her light orange scarf around her neck and linked her arm with Hotaru's as they got up and into the aisle. The girls unloaded themselves off of the bus and started making their way to central town, their hair ruffled by the gentle hand of the winter wind. Mikan, oddly enough, was deep in thought. Her mind was a boomerang and the one who was throwing it seemed to be Personna. She couldn't get rid of his nonchalant attitude as he was escorted away by the police. Like he wasn't finished quite yet. She shook off those despondent thoughts and tried to focus on the fact that she would be able to spend the day with her best female friends.

Mikan's body immediately relaxed as her feet hit the recognizable antique cobblestone pavement that covered the streets of Central Town, the town right by their college. The warm swirling aroma of pastries, howalons, and other delectable treats embraced the girls, protecting them from the biting cold of winter. Cheerful chatter swelled on the sidewalks and greeted one another with unspoken hello's. Despite the comfortable and pleasant atmosphere, Mikan felt a very familiar and cold presence in the streets of such a friendly town. She couldn't put her finger on it, and she obviously couldn't look around to see what was giving her such an ominous shiver, but she decided she would try to pursue the thought later.

"Hey, before we go to the movie theater, can we get some howalon? For snacks?" Mikan asked Hotaru, her voice full of hope.

Hotaru of course immediately shot down the idea, but Nonoko took pity on the hazel eyed girl and purchased some for her. Her ulterior motive was to feel less guilty about the fact that Mikan wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening. She knew Mikan didn't care, but it didn't stop her feeling bad about it.

"Thank you Nonoko!" Mikan gave her friend a big hug when she felt that bitter existence again. She froze and pulled back from Nonoko. She recognized the feeling. It felt just like Personna.

But that was impossible, because he had been escorted by the police right in front of her – using this phrase loosely – eyes. Just in case though…

"Hey Nonoko," Mikan stroked her friend's long dark blue hair, almost as if the repetitive motion would calm down this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "I-Is it possible, that maybe, Personna is here?"

"What?" Nonoko snapped backwards, shock written across her face. Anna immediately rushed to her best friend's side, her light pink hair bouncing as she moved. "How is that possible?" Nonoko immediately started searching through the crowd for the old Psychology teacher, half hoping Mikan was wrong, but half hoping she'd find him if Mikan was right. Nonoko looked towards Anna, Sumire, and Hotaru who had gathered after seeing a very startled looking Nonoko. She took a deep breath. "Have any of you guys seen Personna?"

They all shook their heads and Nonoko turned towards Mikan. "Mikan, I think you must have been mistaken."

"No, no. I definitely felt him!" Mikan faltered as she felt the doubtful glances of her friends. She decided to drop the topic, though she knew that Personna had been near, and he hasn't left yet. "Y-You're right. I must have been mistaken."

But even as they walked away, Mikan was positive that she was right, and Personna wasn't in jail. He was out, and close.

* * *

"I'm so happy we went to see that movie." Sumire bent over cackling as they walked back to the dorms.

"Me too," Mikan giggled. Even though she couldn't see, she heard everything and it was by far one of the most hysterical afternoons of her life. Second to the one when Narumi had made Natsume and Ruka his dress up dolls and took photos of it that he posted on facebook. Hotaru and Mikan stopped walking on the first floor as Sumire, Anna, and Nonoko kept walking to the second floor, waving good night. "G'night guys!"

Mikan and Hotaru walked into their room and sat on their bed. Mikan did it because she was tired, Hotaru did it because she had the purpose of just setting down her stuff. "I'm going to go get ready for bed in the bathroom. Be back in a minute."

"Alright!" Mikan agreed happily, starting to slip into her warm flannel P.J.'s. Right as she was about to throw her jeans into her hamper, her ears were greeted by the sound of crumpling paper. Mikan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She hadn't remembered putting any paper in her pockets. She pulled it out and was pleased to find out it was written in Braille. She brushed her fingers across it and had to take deep breaths to stay calm.

_The pain of loss is second to none,_

_But dear, there's no place to hide, no place to run. _

_It's hard to trap a soul with bars of stone,_

_Because you have nothing to lose when you're all alone._

_Appreciate my clue, maybe even revel._

_We'll meet again soon enough, at the grave of the devil._

_Love, Personna_

**:333333 CLIFFHANGER! KIND OF SORT OF! DID YOU LIKE IT? I'm sorry there wasn't much Natsume – well none at all actually – in this chapter, but he wasn't relevant to what I wanted to happen, so OH WELL. He shall be back next chapter, as will I. BUT! I must warn you, you beautiful and wonderful and probably not sane readers, I am leaving on Tuesday to drop my brother off at college for the FIRST TIME! So I probably will not post for a few days then, because we're going to be staying where we're dropping him off for a few days. THANKS AND SEE YOU PSYCHOS TOMORROW OR THE NEXT DAY OR MAYBE SOME TIME WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK! By the way children, if you love Dr. Who as much as I do, feel free to tell me that in your review too :D**


	12. Chapter 12: Party Time

**I'mmmm baaacck! HELLO AGAIN. As I said on my other story, I returned from dropping my brother off at college, and it was very sad because we were close, and tomorrow school starts and SHIT. Anyhow! I hope you like this chapter, it is the final slightly normal one! Prepare yourselves!**

"Koko, my friend," Kitsuneme said dramatically, clasping his hand on the dirty blonde's shoulder. "You are a genius."

"Aren't I?" Koko grinned manically, setting aside his criminal law notes so that he could do the more important task of discussing this plan with his friend. "It's the perfect set up for a party. We can invite everyone who was at our kick-ass sleepover, and then maybe like five or six more."

"You mean the sleepover where Natsume killed Jin-Jin?"

Koko's face dropped and his tone turned forlorn. "We don't speak of that…"

"Er- right." Kitsuneme changed the topic quickly. "Anyways. But what about Mikan? She probably won't want to come because of the theme. Natsume and Hotaru won't come if she won't, and then Ruka won't come if those two don't come! And if all of them don't come, then Permy will MAKE FUN OF US."

"You're right." Koko snapped out of his depression and his expression changed into one of determination. "Now what could we do… How about we make the theme super generic, like, cops and robbers! And we can hold it in the common room on our floor!"

"Once again. GENIUS." Kitsuneme admonished, shaking his head in disbelief of how intelligent this man was. "Let's get this thing started."

* * *

"A party?" Mikan asked curiously across the lunch table, inhaling another biscuit until she realized there were no more on her plate. She gave a puppy dog look to Natsume who was sitting beside her leaning back in his chair. He rolled his eyes and plucked his biscuit off his plate and dropped it in her hands.

"You need to stop eating so much, or else freshman 15 will become freshman 40."

"Natsume!" she growled at him in mid-bite. "I'll let you know I haven't gained any weight since coming here!"

"Oh yeah? Let's go to the scale—"

"Anyway," Koko interrupted. "The theme is cops and robbers, so wear something along those lines. Oh! And we're also going to be watching something halfway through the party."

"What are we going to be watching?" Ruka questioned, while staring at Kitsuneme because the boy was running his hands through his honey blonde hair.

"It's a secret!" Koko winked, slinging his arm around Ruka's shoulders. "Just like your steamy homo-erotic relationship with Natsume!"

"W-What?!" Ruka exclaimed frantically. "N-No, I – I mean we, no wait, no!" while he was trying to explain himself, his eyes frequently flickered to an indifferent violet eyed inventor for some inexplicable reason. Natsume noticed this and stored it in the back of his mind as a bribing tool for his nosey girlfriend in the future.

"Natsume, we have to go!" Mikan squealed in excitement, grabbing Natsume's arm. "I want to dress up as a cop! I want a gun," she made a gun with her fingers and pointed it around, "and some handcuffs," she cuffed Natsume's wrists with her hands, "and a hat!"

As appealing as hand cuffs sounded to Natsume, he removed her hands and said, "No." Koko froze; he needed Mikan to convince the stubborn kid or else he would lose at least three guests.

"Oh, pretty please?" she wrapped her arms around his neck and blinked her eyelashes sweetly. Natsume felt his resistance start to break down, especially when he thought of the people she would be left with if he didn't come. Leaving her with the blonde idiots seemed dangerous, and Natsume was suddenly that much closer to giving in. "And you'd make such a good robber!" Natsume wasn't saying anything so Mikan decided to pull out her ace. She stuck her full lower lip out in a pout and nestled closer to her boyfriend. "And what if they show a scary movie? I'll have to hug Kitsuneme so I won't feel so scared."

Natsume stiffened significantly and his arms wound around her waist in a protective sort of stance. Mikan gave a small, almost unnoticeable, smile, because she knew Natsume's answer before his "Fine," even came out of his mouth.

"Yay!" she bounced up and down happily. "I can't wait."

* * *

"Welcome to the party!" Koko greeted Mikan, Hotaru, Natsume, and Ruka, a wide grin stretched across his face. He gave them all a once over and nodded, satisfied. "Looking good."

"Thanks!" greeted Officer Mikan, a title given to her by the tag on her police costume Hotaru had arranged for her. It included tight black jeans and a form-fitting blue shirt with the top two buttons undone, Hotaru swearing that's how police officers wore them. Hotaru herself was wearing a similar outfit except more conservative with a camera swinging from her neck, claiming she was the crime scene photographer.

"I still think this is stupid," Natsume reminded Koko as he stepped through the elevator doors, Mikan and his finger's laced together. Reluctantly playing the part of a criminal, Natsume was wearing long black pants and a long-sleeved black shirt, so as to blend in with the night. Ruka gave Koko a simple high five in greeting, his clothes matching Natsume's, and they walked inside.

Koko returned to his party and nodded satisfied. They had ended up getting almost everyone in their psychology class and everybody was dressed according to the theme. He crept up to Sumire and removed his handcuffs from his police belt and locked her hands behind her back. He rested his head on her shoulder and grinned at her as her eyebrow twitched. "What are you doing?"

"Just catching myself a robber," he winked at her and gave her a brief but sweet hug from behind. Her expression softened and she rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Koko glanced at the clock and instantly broke their embrace. "It's starting! Everybody, gather around the television!"

Everybody somehow squeezed into the few couches that were scattered around the area. Ruka, Hotaru, Mikan, Natsume, Koko, and Sumire were squished side-by-side as Kitsuneme turned on the T.V.

"… And back to the review of the trial of Serio Personna!" a deep voice announce. The talking in the room died down as if somebody had just told everyone that they just ran over their puppy. "He was determined guilty by the jury and was put in prison a week ago!"

"Koko," Mikan hissed at him. "What is this?"

"I missed the trial and figure you guys might want to see the review of it! So I turned it into a party!" he gave her a cheeky smile. She couldn't see it, but she assumed it was an obnoxious sort of grin so she leaned toward the sound of his voice and hit him. She settled back in her seat, kind of grumpily and leaned into Natsume. They continued watching (or in Mikan's case listening) the review of the trial for about ten minutes, until the anchor broke into the review with a frantic voice.

"… And this just in! Personna has broken out of prison!" the anchor was clutching his ear piece and almost shouting into the camera. "The police have said be careful, because he is extremely dangerous and may be armed with one of the guard's guns. They advise to stay in-house tonight with a weapon nearby! Be careful everybody! And—" Kitsuneme snapped the T.V. off and everybody gave each other a terrified look.

Mikan laughed nervously. "He was just kidding right? Right?" Nobody answered her and she moved impossibly closer to Natsume who held her close to his warm body, feeling on edge. He had a bad feeling about Personna and he didn't want him getting anywhere near his idiot.

The room was silent and Koko broke it. "This is really awkward."

**And that's it! Oh my god, school is starting tomorrow. Everybody, I just wanted to say that my friend Silent (SilentTearsOfSuicide) wrote this super awesome birthday poem/story thing for me, and you guys should check it out! I'LL SEE YA WHEN I SEE YA GUYS! LOVE YOU A TONSIES!**


	13. Chapter 13: Sakura Aoi

**I'm so sorry for this late post guys! I started my first week of high school and it was EXHUASTING. I'm happy to be back though and I hope you guys don't hate me or anything b-because I DON'T WANT TO BE HATED. ANYWAYS. **

"I don't hear their voices," Mikan's eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she strained her ears, clinging to Natsume's arm. She gave him an accusing glare. "Did you lie and you're actually just trying to make my calves burn?"

"Don't be stupid." Natsume corrected her, mussing her shiny hair just to irritate her. "They told me they would be here, and Imai doesn't lie." She gave him a disbelieving stare and he corrected his statement. "She probably isn't lying."

"I just want to go back to your dorm and go back to sleep," Mikan whined, her aching feet screaming their agreement. She and Natsume had finally had their "sleepover" in Natsume's dorm room; Ruka was out and about with Koko, only God knew why though. After pleasantly waking up snuggled in Natsume's arms, Hotaru had texted Natsume that she had Mikan's cane and that she was in the quad in the middle of the campus. Natsume had promptly dragged Mikan out of bed because he didn't like the idea of her not having it; not that he'd tell her. He just said that Ruka was with Hotaru and he wanted to talk to a guy for once.

"Suck it up." He rolled his eyes at her childish behavior. His eyes finally recognized a familiar blonde and black-haired combo and he steered his idiot in that direction.

"Hyuuga," Hotaru nodded at Natsume and passed Mikan's simple white cane to him, which he tucked under his arm.

"Hey, Natsume!" Ruka greeted him, smiling and Natsume returned it slightly. He loved Mikan, but he hadn't spent time with another male for a while, and Koko just didn't count.

"Hi Ruka! Hotaru!"

"Hi Mikan."

"Idiot."

"We can go back to my room now." Natsume started pulling her back in the direction of his dorm. Mikan turned to him with a murderous expression on her face.

"That… is… it?! NOTHING ELSE! YOU DRAGGED ME OUT FOR THAT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, YOU SELFISH JERK—" Natsume clamped his hand over her mouth so he could call back to Hotaru and Ruka.

"You two want to come with us?"

"Sure," Ruka responded. Hotaru said nothing but decided internally to go, because all those idiots combined would probably cause some kind of explosion. She marched ahead to catch up with the three, already feeling annoyance forcing its way into her veins.

They made it to Natsume and Ruka's dorm room. Natsume immediately sat on his bed and Mikan – unknowing that he was on his bed – collapsed on top of him. His eyes widened at the sudden increase of weight and felt the air fly out of him. "You're so heavy."

Mikan pushed him off the bed, sticking her tongue out.

"Don't be a jerk."

"We're going to be watching the news." Hotaru stated as she lounged on Ruka's bed. Ruka was staring longingly at the fluffy comfort of his bed that the genius inventor had stolen from him. Natsume brushed off the nonexistent dirt as he got up and settled back on to the bed, pulling Mikan next to his side. Only slightly reluctant, she nestled closer to him and focused her gaze on the T.V.

Mikan, Ruka, and Natsume endured through about twenty minutes of the monotonous droning of the news reporters before they all fell asleep. Well, Mikan was just barely staying awake; she wanted to try and smarten up by watching the news. Hotaru, the only one with a large enough knowledge of the world to know what they were talking about, was entrapped by the current events.

"… And in other news, recently an eleven year old Sakura Aoi has gone missing." Mikan's eyes snapped open in shock and anxiety before she closed them again; she wanted to concentrate and she didn't want Hotaru to know she was awake and alert. "There is an eye-witness that viewed the event and said that a man with long dark hair and a 'evil aura' dragged her into his car and rushed away. The only thing left at the crime scene was a note that read, 'We'll meet again soon enough, at the grave of the devil'. Now investigators aren't sure what this means, but police are attempting to crack this..."

Mikan felt a cold hand clench her heart as ice coursed through her veins. She knew that line. She had read it over and over again until the words had seared themselves permanently into her brain. The clever man who crafted this note, the malicious man who had murdered four people, the sadistic man… just kidnapped her baby sister.

The sound of the T.V. clicking off and Hotaru lying down on the bed filled the room. After about five minutes, when Mikan noticed Hotaru's breath evening out, she slipped out of Natsume's embrace and reached her hands out in front of herself, searching for her cane. Her hand grasped its cool white surface and she quietly slid out of the room.

As she cautiously made it back to her dorm room, her mind was whirring at a mile per minute. She would go to her room, she would call a cab company she had on speed dial, and she would think about the note Personna gave her in the taxi. She was positive it would give her some sort of clue of where to go so she could find Aoi.

Mikan executed her quickly formulated plan flawlessly by calling the cab company and fluidly packing a week's worth of clothes in a carry-on bag. She slung it over her shoulder and lead herself out of the girl's dormitory. The moment she stepped outside the building, her cane bumped into a foot, but she couldn't stop herself from tripping into that familiar-feeling chest. She immediately recognized Natsume's firm torso and pulled back swiftly, not wanting him to know her intentions.

She felt him grip her shoulders tightly and speak in a strained voice. "Polka, what the hell are you doing?"

"N-Nothing!" she laughed awkwardly while at the same time trying to listen for an approaching taxi. Natsume gripped her bag and gave it a small but strong tug.

"Then what the fuck," his shoulders were tense and Mikan's hand fluttered nervously up to his face, only to be filled with guilt as she felt his worry-ridden expression. "is this?" Before she could answer, Natsume cupped her cheek. "Hotaru told me what was on the news. She also told me that she found a certain note on your desk with a very interesting sender."

Mikan's first thought was, _When did Hotaru learn Braille? _Her second one was, _She went snooping through my stuff?! _Her tone immediately turned defensive. "I have to do something about it! She's my little sister, and so I need to help—" Natsume clasped his hand over her mouth.

"I get that. I get that you feel responsible for this, but what makes you think you can go on your own?" his voice was almost weary, making Mikan feel like a child being scolded. "I don't care what you think, but we're going together."

Mikan's sightless blue eyes filled with tears and she wrapped her arms around Natsume in a pained hug. A recognizable well-articulated female voice cut into their sweet moment. "Don't think I'm not coming as well. Somebody needs to look after you two idiots. Somebody intelligent."

"I'm going to be coming too." Ruka's voice was more confident than usual as he gave Mikan a gentle smile. "Friends stick together, right?"

"Are we doing a friendship circle?" Koko bounced into the area with Sumire trailing behind him, an irritated look on her face. "Can we join in? OH! Or is it a trip? We're definitely coming!"

"We heard enough to know that this is a serious issue, and Koko is just being an asshole," Sumire informed them. "But we're ready to stand behind you and support you."

Mikan felt overwhelmed by the compassion her friends were providing her with and felt her tears returning. "You guys… T-Thank you so much, but do you know what you're getting yourselves into?"

"Yes," Natsume and Hotaru answered easily.

"No," Sumire and Ruka admitted. "But we're ready to back you up."

"I just don't want to be alone for my classes," Koko grinned at them all. Sumire smacked him over the head.

"He feels the same way as Ruka and I but for some reason feels the need to constantly be a bastard."

"Love you too," he winked at her, rubbing the spot that she hit.

"Now come on, idiots." Hotaru jabbed her finger in the direction of Koko's van. He typically kept company with large vehicles because he was a big believer in camping trips with large numbers of people. "We've got to go find the idiot's idiotic sister."

They loaded into the van after packing traveling bags and leaving notes saying that they all shared a great-grandfather who passed away, and they had to help divide up his equity. Koko shoved his foot against the gas pedal and they sped off to an area where they could think out their next move, leaving but an, annoyed, and waiting taxi driver in their wake.

**OH MY GOD I FINALLY FINISHED. I STARTED THIS ON SATURDAY AND WAS LIKE, "*type type type* Meeeh, I'm not really feeling it today and I don't want to half-ass it." On Sunday I was like, "*type type* Meeeeeeeeh, this isn't flowing right." Today I was like, "I HAVE TO FREAKING FINISH THIS WRITING ON THIS WEEKEND BECAUSE I WON'T HAVE TIME OTHERWISE." Anyways, a nice dramatic chapter for you beautiful people! Thank you for being so patient, because I know that there isn't really an excuse for such a late post, but I must warn you guys, that my posts will most likely be every week from now on. Thank you so much for understanding, and for those of you who read Mikan's mailbox, I'll try and put up the new chapter of that throughout the week! I SEND MY LOVE AND POKEMON D.S. GAMES TO YOU! NOT REALLY! I LOVE THOSE!**


	14. Chapter 14: Devil

**GUYS I'M SO FREAKING SORRY AND I CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN OR EXCUSE MY BEHAVIOR OF THE PAST WEEK. I j-just can't, so I'm going to give you guys what you've been so wonderfully, patiently, fantastically, amazingly, fabulously, awesomely-**

**Natsume: Shut up and give them the damn story.**

"So what do we have to go off on?" Sumire asked as she plucked the remaining fries off her plate and tossed them into her mouth.

"All we really have is my message," Mikan frowned as she realized that the food on her plate was gone. Immediately her hand moved to Natsume's plate and scavenged for his remaining food. Natsume rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand, opened it up, and dropped a cookie in her pleading hands. The group had stopped at an arbitrary restaurant so that they could map out their next move.

"Read it out loud." Hotaru commanded. "It's some sort of clue as to where we're supposed to go next, I presume."

Mikan recited the poem, with a sort of detached and depressed feeling. It only reminded her of the fact that the person who wrote this snatched away her sister. Even though she didn't spent much time with Aoi because of her malicious parents while growing up, she still loved her. Natsume, as if sensing his other half's discomfort, slid his arm around her shoulders and pressed his lips discreetly against her hair. She relaxed almost instantly and finished it without choking up.

Hotaru nodded and tapped the clip she had in her hair. Everybody – with the exception of Mikan – gave her a confused look. "Recording device," she explained shortly, not feeling the need to waste her precious words on such simple minded children. "Now let's think about this logically and start with the first line."

"Well, I think that the first line was made just to represent the fact that Aoi's gone," Ruka said gingerly, tapping his empty glass with his index finger.

"I took a writing class recently," Sumire leaned into Koko slightly as she thought aloud. For once Koko didn't act like an idiot and just let things happen, for which Sumire was silently grateful. "And from what I learned, whenever authors write clues or poems in stories, a lot of times there are lines just added in so that things will rhyme. It's more of a stylistic thing rather than having an actual meaning."

"If I had to guess which lines those were, I would go with the second and the fifth one." Natsume ran his free fingers through his own midnight hair.

"The third line…" Koko snatched the bacon that Sumire was about to plop into her mouth and popped it into his own. He gave her a cheeky grin. "Well, _It's hard to trap a soul with bars of stone, _let's think about this SPIRITUALLY. Souls are dead, and stones, are stones."

"And once again, we get the gift of Koko enlightening us with his omnipotent knowledge!" Sumire fumed at the loss of her pork product. "Hotaru, do you have anything to say on the stone part?"

"Well if we're talking about the dead, then it's probably something similar to a grave." She nodded to herself. "Yes, a grave. Because, _you have nothing to lose when you're all alone,_ you usually aren't buried with others when in a grave."

"Yeah," Ruka nodded, thinking. "The last line says that we're supposed to meet him at the grave of the devil. So, the grave must have something to do with the devil."

Natsume was typing on his computer at the speed of light as he searched the web. "There are three cemeteries within this area."

"Search the last name of Devil in all of the cemetery directories." Mikan squeezed his arm lightly.

Natsume tapped the search button for all three gravesites. "No, there are no people buried at any of the cemeteries with the last name of devil."

Hotaru broke the silence. "Try Diablo. That means devil in Spanish."

"One Diablo," he reported. "It's at a cemetery fairly close to here, about two miles."

"Back in the van!" Koko jumped up and grabbed Sumire's hand dragging her back to the van.

"We're not letting him drive again, right?" Ruka's eyes widened as he saw Koko shoot into the front seat. Natsume, Mikan, and Hotaru all shook their heads and walked out the door of the restaurant. Hotaru immediately walked up to the front door and swung it open. She pushed Koko into the back area and climbed into the driver's seat. Ruka hopped into the passenger seat as the other four arranged themselves in the back, though a sulking Koko made it very difficult.

"When are we going to get there?" Koko complained, being a complete and total brat because of being kicked out of the front. "This car is slower than Miss. Author Person's updates!" **(Fourth wall, BROKEN)**

"Koko, how long is it going to take you to finally get an A in a math course?" Hotaru called in a monotone from the wheel, expertly maneuvering her way through traffic.

"Forever?"

"There's your answer. Because we are going to sacrifice your body to Satan if you continuously whine, therefore you will never arrive there."

Hotaru couldn't help but share Ruka's small grin towards her. She was fairly proud of that one threat; and its effectiveness was clearly shown through the horror that covered Koko's face. Sumire herself didn't even bother to cover her laughter at her boyfriend's shock. Call her a sadist, but there was always a certain amount of satisfaction in seeing the talkative idiot be quiet for once.

They finally arrived to the graveyard, and to everyone's surprise, Koko was still alive. They unpacked themselves from the car and immediately split into groups to search for the grave of this "Diablo" man. Natsume marched off in one direction with Mikan tucked safe and soundly underneath his long warm arm. Koko and Ruka pranced off – Koko pranced, Ruka felt embarrassed – deeper into the cemetery, while Hotaru and Sumire scanned the part of the gravesite that wasn't being covered by the others.

"I don't see any Diablo," Sumire frowned as she walked by a man with the last name of Sklonekevichenstein. "I did find a very unfortunate last name though. Bullying through his childhood can only be assumed."

"If you can stop your tangent for just a minute, then come over here. If you would like to continue, feel free, but just know I'm not listening and I truly wouldn't care even if I was." Hotaru told her as she studied the ancient grave in front of her. It was a beautiful and sturdy marble, but it clearly read 1794, meaning it was more than two hundred years old. The other interesting thing about it, was that the last name was obviously Diablo. Once Sumire noticed this, she turned around while containing her excitement and shouted to the separated members of their group, "Guys! We found Diablo!"

"And a clue." Hotaru's eyebrows were raised. "I think Personna knew that we were going to find this, because it's not written in Braille. Point two for the psychopath."

"What was point one?"

"Kidnapping the child?"

"Ah. That did happen."

"Will you read it out loud?" Mikan requested, only hearing the part about it not being in Braille. "I would really like to hear what the sicko has to say this time."

Hotaru cleared her throat and started reading.

"_Flowers bloom where they soak in the sun,_

_Friendship starts with two not one;_

_Where it all began on that fateful day,_

_Where it lead, who could say;_

_From friends to lovers all in the same place,_

_Back to your origins is where you must trace._"

After hearing the last two lines, Mikan immediately looked up at Natsume, nervous excitement in her sightless eyes. He met her blind gaze as she whispered and he muttered at the same time, "The hospital?"

**CRAP GUYS! I'M UPDATING! CRAZY RIGHT?! Seriously guys, you have no idea how sorry I am about how late this is. I've been swamped and I sprained my ankle and it's been absolutely insane, but on the bright side, I made it into the elite (meaning you have to audition) singing group in our school! I, a FRESHMAN, beat out 11 other sophomores, juniors, and seniors for my part! And by the way guys, it's my best friend's birthday today! So, if you happen to review – which would be LOVELY by the way – then please wish her a happy birthday! Thank you people so much, and I ADORE you all!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Hospital

**Heeey guys! I noticed when signing on that I have 38 followers on this story! That means that three of you joined the crazy train! WEEEE! We're leaving to psychoville in ten minutes and after that we will take a quick stop at sociopath village, otherwise known as its popular nickname, Personna Town! NOW FINALLY WE WILL JOIN EACH OTHER IN THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF WORDS~!**

"How could he even know?" Mikan was extremely unsettled at the thought that Personna knew about something so personal.

Natsume was furious. The time when he first met Mikan was one he held as one of the most important moments of his life. The time he gained his first and best friend and future everything. It was sacred. It was his. The fact that somebody knew about their first meeting made him ballistic with hidden rage. As if Mikan could sense his building fury, she pressed herself into his tense side and he relaxed slightly almost immediately. "I don't know. At least we know where to go."

"What's this hospital?" Sumire asked curiously. Hotaru and Ruka didn't ask because Mikan and Natsume had both told them at one point in their friendship. Hotaru got it without even having to ask, while Ruka had to pry for years until finally Natsume told him in 10th grade.

"It's probably the place where Natsume and Mikan first met and became best friends forever!" Koko guessed, grinning as this implausible story popped into his mind.

"How did HE know?!" Mikan exclaimed, throwing her hands up.

"Wait, really? I'm a genius!" Koko cackled until Sumire smacked him over the head with her slender hand.

"So we're going to our hometown?" Ruka asked, a smile tugging on his lips. Despite the grave situation, he couldn't help but feel pleased that he would maybe be able to see his family and Natsume's family.

"I guess so…" Mikan trailed off, thinking. "So I suppose we should get going?"

"Shotgun," Koko and Hotaru claimed at the same time. Koko's gaze immediately turned defensive as it met with Hotaru's steely glare. Their eye connection didn't break until finally Hotaru mouthed the words, _I will eat your first-born child_.

Everybody was shocked when Koko silently climbed into the back seat.

Sumire crawled in after him and soon everybody was settled back into this van that was already becoming so very dull. Its leather interiors had lost their luster; its gray floors were no longer fascinating. And with a car ride of five hours ahead of them, everyone in the back started settling down in different areas so that they could rest and be saved from the dreary atmosphere the car created. Sumire nestled her head in the crook of Koko's neck and her eyes immediately started to flutter shut once he snaked his arm around her shoulders. Mikan and Natsume didn't even take that long to fall asleep once they were wrapped up in each other's arms.

Hotaru looked back at all of the sleeping imbeciles and shook her head. Ruka glanced at her, allowing his attention to stray from highway 54 for a moment. "What?"

"The idiots are all asleep." She looked at Ruka and corrected herself. "Almost all of them."

Ruka smiled at her, "But I'm your favorite idiot."

Hotaru's pale cheeks flushed and she turned away muttering furiously, "I-Idiot! Such a stupid human being…"

Ruka was confused but dismissed the entire interaction that just occurred and once again turned his cerulean eyes back to the road. Hotaru finally calmed down enough to decide to give him the gift of being alone; she was going to sleep as well. Ruka was just about to ask Hotaru a question when he took note of her shut eyes and steady breaths. He shook his head, but was happy that the van full of obnoxious people was finally quiet. It gave him time to think. With all of the loud and opinionated voices constantly shouting around him, he had trouble making out his own thoughts. It was blissful actually. He smiled pleasantly to himself and turned the radio up slightly, and the first song on the radio was Fergalicious. Suddenly his peace was shattered into a million pieces, burned, the ashes were kicked around, inflamed again, and then shoved into a dear carcass that was promptly thrown off a cliff.

"Ruka, what the hell is this?"

"Nogi I will tear out your tongue for playing this!"

"This is the last time we let you drive, you culturally illiterate swine!"

"THIS SONG IS MY JAM!"

"'Feraglicious definitious make them boys go loco…'"

It was nice while it lasted, Ruka thought mournfully as he turned on an exit, already pleading God for the ride to be over.

"Hey, we're here!" Koko shouted excitedly, pressing his face against the window. Sumire restrained herself from doing the exact same thing. It felt like it had been so long since they had last been home. She couldn't help but feel as though the reunion with the place that watched her grow up was ruined slightly by the fact that they were trying to solve a kidnapping.

"Natsume, where are we?" she tugged on his arm, a beam plastered on her face as nostalgia crept into her thoughts.

"We're right by that organic café that we used to go to," He couldn't help but reciprocate by giving her a small smile and ruffling her hair. She couldn't even muster up the strength to yell at him for messing up her hair. She was so ecstatic to be back.

But then, Miss. Hotaru The Reality Slap brought everyone back down to earth. "If you cretins are done gawking at such trivial, then we need to focus on the matter at hand. Where's the hospital?"

"274 Linden Road," Mikan responded quickly. Natsume shot her a weird look and she grinned back guiltily. "I kind of memorized it because I visited you so much when we were younger."

"274 Linden Road it is," Ruka winked at her through the mirror, then remembering, kind of embarrassedly, that the wink would be lost on her. He cleared his throat to try to erase that social faux paux from his memory. "Where do you think we'll find the next note?"

"Probably my old room," Natsume answered, feeling bittersweet. That room had kept him from meeting new people and learning how to interact, but that room had given him Mikan. He didn't know whether he should try his hand in arson and burn it, or worship the ground it was built upon. "631."

"Well I for one," Koko gestured to himself in a grand, sweeping gesture, "would love to take my lovely Permy on a romantic walk through the corridors of the sick and infected."

"I would be honored," Sumire curtsied as low as she could, as she extended her hand towards him, giggling. "If you feel like being good to me today, you could take me to see a blood transfusion."

"I was thinking more along the lines of a kidney transfer," he placed his lips on top of her hand in a delicate kiss, amusement dancing in his eyes. "It's much classier."

"I do agree that this is the activity we should do," she looked over the car where everybody was watching their exchange except for Ruka who was pulling into the parking lot in front of the large white building. "Is that okay with everyone?"

"Just meet up with us after we find the note," Hotaru gestured at them to go away like a mother who was just tired of dealing with her hyperactive children. Sumire and Koko's hands shot out towards each other as they raced into the hospital, yelling something about impersonating health care professionals.

"You know we might have to get them out of jail when we put Personna back in," Ruka frowned, pulling the keys out of the ignition.

"Agreed," the other three nodded in unison.

They exited the car and entered the sterile hospital, the smell making Mikan almost dizzy with memories. Natsume subtly squeezed her hand, almost as if agreeing with her mental sentiment. They approached the hospital desk, and the gray-haired secretary looked up to greet the new visitors, and her face lit up with recognition. "Natsume? Mikan? Oh my gosh it is you two!"

"K-Kathy?" Mikan guessed as a pair of familiar strong arms and firm hands wrapped around her slender frame in a bear hug.

"You've both grown so much!" Kathy hadn't corrected her, so Mikan went with the assumption that she was correct. Natsume tried to grimace as Kathy smothered him in her grandmother love, but found that he just couldn't. Her affection was infectious. No wonder she worked at a hospital; her kindness was as contagious as any disease in this disinfected prison. Natsume merely settled for an expressionless façade. She pulled back and looked at them all in confusion. "What are you two doing back here? Aren't you supposed to be in college?"

"W-We—"

"We had a break." Hotaru lied easily, brushing her hair away from her eyes. "And Natsume – you know what a lovesick fool he is – wanted to take his beloved girlfriend to the place where they first met; his hospital room. Could you lead this hopelessly romantic couple to room 631?"

With hearts in her eyes, Kathy scampered down the hallway dragging the group behind her before finally shoving them in front of room 631. She kissed Natsume and Mikan on the cheek, "It was so nice seeing you two again! And Natsume," she gave the stoic dark-haired boy a wink, "you treat this girl well."

"Of course Kathy," he muttered. She was the nurse that took care of him when he was younger, and it was still ingrained in him to give into her motherly tone of voice.

After she left, the four of them slipped into the unoccupied room. As if it had been waiting for them, a small simple white note rested on the bed, unfolded, waiting to be read. Natsume picked it up, and resisted the urge to crumple it up as he read it out loud.

"**Deserted and abandoned, left behind without thought**

**This is where the final battle will be fought**

**Bring your bravery and your courage, I won't just give her back**

**You'll need to fight me, you'll need to attack.**

**So good luck little ones, I'll be waiting for 32 minutes,**

**Be there in time if you hope to win it."**

Koko and Sumire burst into the room, panting and laughing, leaning against each other. They finally calmed down and decided to observe everyone in the room. "W-What did we miss?"

**DONE. OH MY GOSH. THIS STORY IS ONLY LIKE FOUR MORE CHAPTERS LONG. MAYBE. NOT SURE. I'll try so hard to update guys but everything is so busy and high school basketball occupies 5-6 days of my week with homework filling the rest and—**

**I have no right to complain. I'm sorry guys, but I can't promise a regular update. Thank you so much for supporting this story you guys have no idea how much it means to me and you make life FABULOUS. Leave a review and tell me what you think! Give me a virtual kiss and I'll probably blush like a little anime school girl! BAAAI!**


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